


The Truth Of The Heart

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-26
Updated: 2009-04-01
Packaged: 2019-01-19 14:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12412065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Or has she just been ignoring what she knew in her heart all along?





	1. End Of Sixth Year

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

**The Truth Of The Heart**

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

 

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

 

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

 

 

**Chapter 1: End of Sixth Year**

 

_‘Once upon a time, there was a young girl who lived in a castle overlooking a lake...’_

 

“What’re you doing?”�

 

“Go _away_ , Potter!”� Lily didn't even try to keep the frustration out of her voice, as she raised her head to find him looking at her.

 

“What?”� he asked, in an injured manner. “Aren’t people allowed to make polite enquiries?”�

 

“ _People_ are. With you, its always something else.”�

 

“I’m not doing anything!”�

 

Lily sighed tiredly. “Just leave me alone,”� she said coldly.

 

“I will, if you’ll give me one chance. What do you say, Evans? Go out with me?”�

 

Lily slammed her book down furiously. taking a vindinctive pleasure in the way he recoiled slightly as she glared up at him.

 

“NO. Don’t you get it? I’m not interested. Not even remotely. I have no idea how many times you’ve asked me this question, but I’ve always said no, and I’m always going to say no, and only your big head would be thick enough to think that I would ever, EVER go out with a pig-headed jerk like you!”� Angrily, she picked up her bag and books, and headed for the stairs to the dormitories.

 

It was only when she got to the top step that she turned, for no reason, to find James standing next to the fire, with an almost … defeated slump to his posture. The next moment, Sirius Black, one of his best friends, had bounded across the room, slapping his back and clearly asking him how it had gone. Lily’s heart hardened once more and she stomped along the corridor to her dormitory, mumbling curses. It was just one of his phases, she thought fiercely. He just wanted to annoy her…and he had been doing it in this same way since fifth year. Pushing the door to her dormitory open, and dumping her bag onto the floor, she threw herself onto the bed and stared moodily up at the canopy of her four-poster.

 

“If I had one wish, it would be to see Potter dead,”� she muttered.

 

“What, and deprive half the girls here of their own personal god?”� 

 

Lily sat up with a start. She had thought the room was empty, but her best friend Emma appeared to be sitting up from where she had been packing her trunk in a corner, regarding her with an amused smile.

 

“Oh, it’s you, Em.”� She lay back down, contemplating the fact that even if she did manage to somehow accidentally push James out of a sixth-floor window, she would have half of Hogwarts’ female population at her throats the next morning, for trying to ruin the looks of a boy they practically worshipped.

 

“Penny for your thoughts?”�

 

Lily groaned and rolled over. “My thoughts are Potter’s death wishes.”�

 

 

-&-&-&-

 

 

Two days later, Lily, Emma, and all the other students boarded the Hogwarts Express and were carried back to King’s Cross Station. Lily and Emma had found a compartment to themselves and were busy playing Exploding Snap when the door burst open and four boys fell in, onto the floor in a heap. The first to untangle himself was Sirius. He rose to his feet and bowed dramatically.

 

“So sorry to have disturbed you, ladies. We were simply engaged in a spot of Snivellus-baiting and felt we needed to make a quick getaway…”�

 

“Although he might find it a bit difficult to come after us, considering the clothes he’s wearing,”� James added, smirking. “Especially the miniskirt.”� His hand flew to his hair as he saw Lily’s eyes on him.

 

Peter Pettigrew, the shortest of the four, took a quick look outside. “Are those Slytherins?”� 

 

Remus Lupin, a more serious, and (usually) the most sensible of the boys, checked and nodded. “We’d better move.”�

 

“Well, nice seeing you, ladies,”� Sirius said cheerfully, as he was dragged out by Peter. “Call on us if you ever need a nice gentleman to escort you somewhere.”�

 

James lingered for half a second longer. “Evans, are you sure you wouldn’t want to go out with -”�

 

“Get OUT, you conceited prat!”� Lily yelled, throwing a magazine at him. His head moved quickly behind the door and it slid shut. For a few seconds, the compartment was silent.

 

“Well, you can’t say he isn’t persistent,”� Emma said at last, picking up her cards.

 

 

-&-&-&-

 

 

All too soon, the train drew into the platform and the girls lugged their trunks into the crowd of students and parents. There was no sign of the four boys, or the Marauders, as they called themselves, although Lily could have sworn she heard Sirius’ voice somewhere.

 

She and Emma exchanged the usual promises of writing to each other over the summer and with a last hug, Emma went off to find her parents. Lily began to drag her things towards the barrier that separated the Muggle station from the magical, knowing her father would be waiting in his car outside. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her — an all-too-familiar voice.

 

“Evans! Oi, EVANS!”�

 

She whirled around, anger already welling up, to see James Potter jogging up behind her.

 

“What?”� she snapped.

 

“Nothing, just…sorry for all that on the train.”� He looked awkward, jamming his hand into his pocket as he didn’t know what to do with it.

 

“Oh….ok…”� Lily felt thrown, for some unidentifiable reason.

 

“Well…have a good summer,”� he added, going red.

 

She looked at him warily. “Yeah, thanks, you too.”�

 

“See you.”� Flashing her a small grin, though his cheeks were still warm, he set off again, weaving through the crowds.

 

Lily felt oddly disconcerted as she watched his retreating figure. Something had been missing from that…and had they _really_ just had a civil exchange, without her ending up yelling?

 

 

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

 

 

**A/N:** Hi folks. This is child-of-scorpio from ff.net, and having dug myself out of my work with nothing more than a plastic spoon, I'm back in the world of fanfiction - hopefully at least until I finish this story. It's posted up to chapter 23 atm over on ff.net, and I HAD 34 chapters up before the story was removed for no good reason. (I ended up reposting afterwards). Anyway, I apologise for the excruciating awfulness of this chapter...it was written..wow. Nearly two years ago, on the dot. The writing DOES get better as it goes along, and I'm attempting to make small edits as I go, though I'm not rewriting the entire thing because I barely have enough time to move this on, let alone go back to the beginning at the same time. So, hope you enjoy it! Love you all, and love you even more if you leave a review (hint hint)...


	2. Back On The Hogwarts Express

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

 

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

 

**A/N:** Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews — it’s nice to know I haven’t been forgotten! I would do review thank-yous, but if this fic gets taken down again for anything, it won’t b going up again, so I won’t risk it. Enjoy the reposted chapter 2!

 

 

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

 

 

** Chapter 2: Back on the Hogwarts Express **

****

Six weeks later, Lily found herself back on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, dragging her trunk into an empty compartment. _Thank God I got here early_ , she thought, pushing her long red hair back and then immediately feeling infuriated with herself for not tying it back as she usually did. Who did she think she wanted to impress?

Having manoeuvred herself out of the compartment again, Lily hopped off the train. She saw several people who she knew and waved absently at them as she scanned the crowds, looking for Emma. Students were climbing on and off the train, and saying goodbye to families everywhere she looked. Someone trod on her shoe, yanking the lace out, and she bent down, cursing inwardly, to tie it up. A shadow fell across her.

“Hi Lily.”� 

She straightened up to find herself staring straight up into a male face.

James Potter.

“Lily?”� 

It was then that something else clicked into place. Lily? Didn’t he usually call her Evans? Something was very wrong here. Perhaps he was trying to butter her up so that he could play a prank on her. Acting on impulse, Lily looked around. Were any other Marauders near?

“Hello? Lily? Wake up!”� 

This time, it was delivered with a slight push to the shoulder, and Lily mentally shook herself out of her thoughts and looked up at him. He had obviously grown another few inches over the summer; she felt slightly dwarfed by him, even though she was nowhere near short herself.

“Sorry. Hi.”�

“How’ve you been?”� James shoved his hands in his pocket as he spoke, and Lily smothered a grin. He was clearly trying to restrain himself from running his hands through his hair.

“What’s it to you, Potter?”� Lily had intended it to sound like an insult, to send him packing, but to her horror, it came out sounding almost…flirty. James had obviously noticed it as well; he raised an eyebrow as he opened his mouth to reply…but he never got the chance. Another boy had leapt onto him, apparently hugging him — if only in a very masculine way.

“Prongsie!”�

“Aargh, Sirius, gerroff me!”� James gasped, his glasses slightly askew, trying to wrench Sirius’s arm off him.

Finally, Sirius released James and noticed Lily standing there, arms crossed. A gleam appeared in his eye. “Lily!”� he cried.

“Don’t even think about it,”� Lily said firmly, taking a step back cautiously. “I, uhm, have to go…”� She gestured uselessly at the crowds thronging the platform.

“Wait a second! Aren’t you going to ask us how our holidays were? Especially James’?”� Sirius added slyly, slapping James on the chest.

“Padfoot, shut up,”� James said uncomfortably, but Lily’s attention was occupied by other matters. As Sirius had slapped James, something silver had winked at her, and as he removed his hand, she read what was written on the silver badge pinned neatly onto his jumper. Her mouth fell open.

“You’re…”� she gasped.

“Yup.”� Sirius smirked at her. “Our little Jamesie is Head Boy.”� He pretended to wipe an imaginary tear from his eye. “They grow up so fast.”�

“Shut it,”� James mumbled, but this time he was smiling slightly. His gaze focused on Lily again, who had gone paper-white.

“ _You’re_ Head Boy?”� she asked, praying that she was hearing things. “You? Not Remus, or any other seventh-year? And this isn’t a joke?”�

“Nope. I’m pretty sure I’m Head Boy. Why? What’s it to you?”�

Lily removed a small envelope from her pocket, and opened it. Her fingers trembled slightly as she removed a silver badge from it. “Surprise,”� she said weakly. “I was saving this to put on later.”�

James and Sirius leaned in to read it.

“Congratulations!”� James said, hoisting a smile onto his face.

“Thanks,”� Lily muttered, unconsciously pushing her hair back. “You too.”� For one moment, she wanted to fall through the floor. Then, suddenly, her normal feelings kicked in. So she was going to be partners with Potter for the next year. Why was she blushing and acting like another one of his… _groupies_? This was _James Potter_ for heavens sake, the boy who’d made her life hell for six years.

“So,”� Sirius began. “Jamesie and Lily. Working together for an entire year. You’ll be locked up together in rooms a lot, won’t you, doing… _things_.”� Lily’s eyes widened in shock at what he was insinuating.

“You sick-minded pervert!”� she shrieked. Raising her hand, she brought it down with all the force she could muster on Sirius’ cheek. He gasped and winced as she turned on her heel and strode away angrily, head held high.

“Got a temper on her, that one,”� Sirius said, rubbing his cheek painfully.

“Yeah,”� muttered James, gazing after her.

 

**- &-&-&-**

 

Two hours later, Lily and Emma were sitting in a compartment, talking. Or rather, Lily was talking furiously, and Emma was staring into space.

“…and then his idiot friend has the nerve to go and…and _imply_ things, which I would not be caught DEAD doing!”� Lily said angrily. “Besides, which idiot decided to make _Potter_ Head Boy? Someone like Amos Diggory, I can understand, but Potter? He spends all his time in detention, on the Quidditch pitch, or snogging girls in broom closets. He has no respect for rules, or anything other than himself, so who thought that he would make a good Head? WHO?”� Lily finally noticed the glazed look in her friend’s eyes. “Emma Vance, are you listening to me at ALL?”�

Emma looked up at her exasperatedly. “I listened to you the first time, Lils. And the second time. I even listened to you for most of the third time. But we have been on this train for…”� she checked her watch. “…two hours, and for one hour and fifty minutes of that, I have been listening to the same thing over and over again. If you want my opinion, just ask for it.”�

Lily sighed and slumped down. “Alright Em. What’s your opinion?”�

“For starters, the ‘idiot’ who made James prefect would be Dumbledore, and I’m quite sure he had his reasons for choosing him. Besides, in all your ranting and raving, you haven’t answered a few basic questions that you should be asking.”�

“Like what?”� Lily shot at her friend.

“Number One: You still haven’t given either me or yourself a decent explanation for why James has started calling you Lily, when you’ve been using surnames for the past six years. Number Two: Why did you get so upset about what Sirius said? And why are you so upset about the idea of James being Head Boy?”�

“BECAUSE, he’s stupid and Sirius was being gross,”� Lily moaned, and she slid even further down her seat. “I can’t take this any more!”� She scrunched her eyes shut and put her hands over her ears, just as the door opened.

“Lily!”�

Emma kicked Lily, who opened her eyes to see James Potter’s head, wearing an urgent expression, at the door. “Lily, you — I mean, _we_ were meant to be at the meeting in the Prefect’s compartment twenty minutes ago!”�

“WHAT?”� Lily sprang up. “No!”�

“Yes! Come on!”�

“Sorry Em,”� she panted, and flinging the door shut behind her, she and James hurtled down the corridor.

“I — only — just — found — out!”� James gasped out as they reached the door. Opening it, they tumbled in together. Eight pairs of eyes met Lily’s accusingly, and she did her best to gaze round amicably at them.

“Sorry,”� she said apologetically. _Great_ , she thought. _What a great way to start off my year._

__

**- &-&-&-**

 

Left behind, Emma smiled to herself. _And another thing, Lils_ , she added silently. _You haven’t noticed how much he’s changed._

 

 

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

****

 

 

**A/N:** So, there you go. Basically the same — just a few minor alterations where I’ve noticed a grammatical mistake. Feel free to leave a review — anything will do. The next chapter will be coming very soon!


	3. Shocks and Consequences

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

**A/N:** Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews – it’s nice to know I haven’t been forgotten! I would do review thank-yous, but if this fic gets taken down again for anything, it won’t be going up again, so I won’t risk it. Enjoy the reposted chapter 3! Seriously, I love you all LOADS!

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

** Chapter 3: Shocks and Consequences **

“Finally!” Lily said, as she and Emma sat down in the Great Hall. Despite the fact that they were both rather damp (Peeves had decided to hold a water-balloon display in the entrance hall as the students arrived – his twisted way of celebrating, Emma had remarked), she was looking forward to some hot food and thought longingly of her warm bed up in the tower. Trying not to fall asleep, she focused on her plate. 

That was when she noticed the envelope tucked under it, addressed to _Lily Evans, Head Girl_. 

Curiously, she opened it, and removed a single piece of parchment. Her eyes skimmed over the words. ‘Oh my . . .’ she muttered, and she looked up the table to see James, who had apparently just read his letter, and was looking at her as well. For the few seconds that their eyes met, they both wore identical expressions of shock, although Lily’s held some horror in it as well. She broke the gaze and banged her head down onto the table.

“Uhmm, Lily?” Emma questioned. She tapped Lily carefully on the back. “What exactly are you doing to the table?”

Lily’s voice sounded muffled, but was quite clearly still full of despair. “Read the letter.”

Retrieving the parchment from where it had fallen, Emma began to read, as Lily buried her head in her arms.

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_We are pleased to congratulate you once more on becoming Head Girl. You will be working in partnership with the Head Boy, who this year is James Potter, also of Gryffindor. As role models for the rest of the school, the two of you are expected to work in co-operation with each other, and set aside any personal differences. Much responsibility is given to the Head students, and it is hoped that these new powers will not be abused._

_As this letter may well be depriving you of a much-needed dinner, the full details of your jobs will be explained to you by Professor McGonagall. A weekly time slot has been set up, where you and Mr Potter will be able to discuss any business necessary, and it is expected that you will attend these meetings and devote at least two hours to the work given. You have kindly been granted permission by Professor McGonagall to use the Transfiguration classroom from 7 until 9pm on Monday evenings. Meetings will begin immediately._

_With best wishes for the following year,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Minerva McGonagall_

Emma looked at Lily. “What’s so bad about this?”

Lily lifted her head and gave Emma a furious glare. “What’s so bad? What’s so _BAD_? Look at it! Work _in partnership_ with James Potter? _That_ I already knew, and screamed about. _Work in co-operation and set aside personal differences_? I’m sorry, but _Potter_ and me? Co-operation? Not possible. And _personal differences_? There are so many, it’ll take years to set them all aside! He’ll spend half his time asking me out! And as for _abusing powers_ , just watch Potter, Slytherin will have lost about two hundred points by the end of next week; you wait and see. AND I have to spend TWO HOURS locked in a classroom with HIM? What can we possibly - ”

Much as Emma liked her friend, she was rather grateful when Professor Dumbledore rose to welcome everyone, cutting Lily off in the middle of her second tirade in less than twenty-four hours.

**- &-&-&-**

All too soon (in Lily’s opinion), Monday evening arrived, and by six o’clock, she was in a mixed mood. Her classes had been fairly good, excepting Transfiguration, which she was beginning to worry about. On the other hand, the thought of spending two hours in a room with James Potter, trying to be polite, was not a happy one, and as the minutes ticked by, she began to dread the idea.

At ten to seven, Lily put her books away. She would have much preferred to stay in the library with Emma and do some reading, but she had no wish to get in Professor McGonagall’s bad books on Day One.

Emma looked up in surprise as she got to her feet. “Surely you can’t have finished all your homework this quickly?”

Lily nodded and picked up her bag. “Put it this way Em. At least if I feel the need to throw something at Potter after the meeting, I can do it without worrying that I have to finish a Potions essay as well.” She smiled sardonically, and walked off.

“Good luck!” Emma called after her, earning herself a reproving glare from Madam Pince, the librarian.

With a sinking feeling, Lily reached the Transfiguration classroom and pushed the door open. Professor McGonagall was already waiting for her, and James was lounging on one of the chairs.

“Good evening, Miss Evans. Take a seat.” Lily sat down on the chair next to James and dropped her bag on the floor.

“You’re actually here _on time_ , Potter?” she muttered.

“Oh, I usually am, just not for lessons,” James replied, shooting her a grin that melted most girls’ hearts. Lily remained untouched.

“Well, now that you are both here, I suppose I can begin. I know that the two of you do not always see . . . eye-to-eye.” McGonagall eyed them both beadily, and the two seventh-years shifted uncomfortably. “However, the Headmaster and myself hope that as you seem to exhibit very worthy qualities in your own rights, you will be able to combine them and put them to good use.”

“Your responsibilities as Head Boy and Girl are to set an example to the other students. You should at least _try_ to keep up good grades, and stay out of childish fights.” Here James grinned guiltily. “Unlike Prefects, you do not need authority to give out detentions, and you may take away points, providing that there are _reasonable circumstances_.” Again, McGonagall gave James a Look, and continued. “You may have to deal with planning various school events and other things for the student body, and although you must make the plans, the Prefects are on hand to help you execute them.”

Professor McGonagall looked down at a piece of parchment. “Now, your first task. I have no doubt that both of you are aware of the problems growing outside the school walls, both political and social. The Headmaster has decided that to raise the students’ morale, two school events can be organised. They should be different, and involve the students in something enjoyable. Have you any ideas?”

For a few moments, there was silence.

“How about a fancy dress competition for the whole school?” James suggested. “We could hold it at Halloween, instead of the Feast, and have judges and things. We could even get some other entertainment as well!”

Lily considered the idea. “That might work,” she said thoughtfully. “We could choose finalists, and then have a proper ball at Christmas where the winner could be announced.”

“That would be an excellent proposal,” Professor McGonagall said approvingly. “I shall pass it on to Professor Dumbledore. Do be aware that whatever you choose to do, it should be cost-effective. I’ll leave you to discuss your options now.” She stood up and gathered her books.

“You know, I do believe Dumbledore was right. When you two work together, you do appear to compliment each other very well.” Giving them the merest hint of a smile, she swept out of the room. The door swung shut behind her.

James and Lily remained quiet, neither wanting to be the first to speak. Eventually, Lily sighed.

“Well, we’re never going to get anywhere if we don’t do anything. Are we decided on the fancy dress contest and the ball?”

To her surprise, James nodded. She hadn’t expected him to be so . . . mature about this.

“Ok,” she said briskly. Pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill, she began scribbling something down. James watched curiously. It appeared to be a list. She threw it across to him when she had finished.

“ _Halloween Contest_ ,” he read. “ _Things to consider. Name. Place. Food. Music. Drinks. Decorations. Time. Space. Order of events. Arrangements. Pre-contest and post-contest clearance. Judges. Commentator?_ ” He put the list down. “It’s going to be a lot of work. Honestly Lily, why’d you have to be so organised? It looks even worse this way.”

For some reason, his remark stung. “Well _maybe_ I just like being prepared,” Lily said, her teeth gritted.

“Or _maybe_ you don’t like surprises,” James shot back at her. “Just admit it Lily. You like to be in control of everything!”

“Like you don’t?” Lily argued, her volume growing to match his.

“I don’t!” Blotches of red appeared on James’ cheeks and his hazel eyes were darkening. “I prefer to live life one day at a time and _enjoy_ it. _You_ think that if you haven’t planned something in advance, it’s going to be awful!”

“Oh and all of this comes from Mr I’ve-Never-Planned-Anything-In-My-Life,-Least-Of-All-A-Prank?”

By this time, both of them were on their feet, Lily mentally psyching herself up for any insults coming her way, and so she was startled when James turned abruptly away from her. When he turned around again, his cheeks were back to normal, and his eyes had returned to their usual colour, although he was evidently still struggling to keep control of himself.

“This is exactly what we _weren’t_ supposed to do,” he said, his voice at its original level.

Lily looked him in the eye for a moment, and seeing that he was sincere, made an effort to calm herself down too. “I guess we did turn into . . .”

“Monsters?” James supplied.

“Yeah.” She looked around. “Maybe we should leave it here for today, in case we do something else . . . well, stupid.”

James grinned. “Ok. We have the, uh . . . the basics sorted out.” Sheepishly, he handed the now-crumpled list back to Lily.

Lily pushed it into her bag. “See you here next week Potter.”

James paused, his hand on the doorknob.

“Why Potter?” he said.

“Huh?”

James rolled his eyes. “I don't know if you ever got the memo, but my name is James.”

Lily really did not see where this was going. "I'm well aware of that," she said loftily.

“Well, maybe you should try it out sometime.” He smiled at her, and disappeared.

**- &-**

Later on, Emma gasped as Lily told her what had happened.

“Lily!”

“What?” Lily threw a pillow at her.

“For heavens sake, Lils, are you COMPLETELY blind? You’re telling me that James Potter actually did the adult thing for once and backed out of a fight with you? And he didn’t even ask you out afterwards? _Tell_ me that’s not weird.”

Lily considered it. Now that she thought about it, Emma was right. James _had_ changed.

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

**A/N:** If you've read this far, I would love you forever if you'd leave a review *puppy-dog eyes* Please?


	4. Prefect Business

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

A/N: Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews – it’s nice to know I haven’t been forgotten! I would do review thank-yous, but if this fic gets taken down again for anything, it won’t be going up again, so I won’t risk it. There’ve been a few more alterations than before in this chapter, with regard to some of the dialogue, because when I reread it, I thought it seemed a bit stilted, so I redid bits. Anyway, enjoy chapter 4 (again!)!

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

** Chapter 4: Prefect Business **

Owls swept into the Great Hall the next morning, just as Emma and Lily were getting up to leave. To their surprise, a handsome, but unfamiliar barn owl flew down and dropped an envelope into Emma’s arms, which was strangely heavy. Emma slit the envelope open and read it as they walked to Charms.

“What does it say?” Lily asked.

“I’m . . . I’m a Prefect.” Emma said weakly.

“What? No! Yes!” Lily nearly dropped her bag. “Well done, Em!”

Emma shook the envelope out onto her hand, and a small badge fell out – a ’P’ superimposed over the Gryffindor Lion. She held it out to Lily, who took it and examined it.

“That’s definitely a Prefects badge. But why’d you only get it now?”

“Because you became Head Girl,” Emma held up the letter. “They had to find someone to take over the Prefect job, since you can’t do both, so I got it.”

“Well, congratulations Em. There’s no one I can think of in the whole year who deserves it more than you!” Lily hugged her best friend.

Emma continued to read the letter, leaving Lily peering into her bag, until a soft gasp made her look up. Emma was staring at the parchment, her mouth open.

“What is it?” Lily asked impatiently, when Emma did not say anything. “Are you working personally with Narcissa or something?”

“No, I – I have to work with . . . Remus.” Emma’s voice had gone very quiet.

“Yeah, obviously. I thought you already knew that.” Lily raised her eyebrows and gave Emma an arch look. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“No,” said Emma, a little too quickly. “Nope, nothing, nothing at all.”

“Yeah, right,” Lily said. “Emma, you’re not telling -”

Just then the door opened, and Lily forgot to continue as they were ushered into the classroom for a demanding hour of Charms.

**- &-&-&-**

After Potions, the last class of the day, another thing occurred to intrigue Lily. Sirius pulled her aside and asked if he could speak to her in private. Startled, she agreed, and waved Emma past. Once everyone had left the classroom, Sirius dragged her up several passages until they were standing in a small alcove off a rarely used corridor. He turned to face her. “Ok, I know we don’t know each other very well, and I know you think I’m just a prankster, but you have to believe what I’m going to tell you.”

“Okay,” Lily said, uncertainly.

“James told me what happened last night, and he said that you nearly got into another fight. I’m right so far, aren’t I?”

Lily nodded.

“He said that for a moment, he nearly lost his temper. That’s why I got you here.” He paused for a moment. “Look, I know this sounds insane, but when James really, properly loses his temper, it’s scary. I’ve only been on the receiving end once, but that was enough, because it is _bad_.”

“So let me get this straight. You’re telling me to be careful because James has a bad temper?” Lily said incredulously. “He’s usually so . . . cheery.”

“Yeah, because he keeps it under wraps. Go and ask Daniel Jordan in the year below us; he was given a dose of it two years ago, and he’s still scared to come near James. My point is. . . just take care. I’m warning you in advance here.”

“Why are you telling me this now?” Lily had no idea what to think. Then, suddenly, another thought occurred to her. “And aren’t you a bit late – we’ve been arguing for years now. Are you seriously telling me that he’s _never_ been angry with me before, because I have a hard time believing that.”

“Lily, the boy spent most of his time arguing with you because his ulterior motive was to get you to go out with him, and the only way you’d talk to him was to fight with him. It was all just . . .fun. For him, anyway. He never _seriously_ lost his temper with you. For another thing, you two are going to have to work together for the rest of the year, whatever happens, and I know that James lik – respects you, so I don’t think he’d want you to get hurt.” Sirius appeared to be talking with such sincerity that against her better instincts, Lily felt herself believing him.

“I don’t know what you’re like when you get angry – actually, wait a minute maybe I do,” (Lily smiled, thinking of the many times that she had yelled at the Marauders), “but anyway, just . . . try not to get into a big fight.”

Although for some reason, Lily found herself accepting that he wasn’t making things up, there was still a part of her that rebelled against his advice. Perhaps it was this part that made her reply so snappishly. “Ok, thanks for this, but if you think that I’m going to back down from something that I think is right, just because James has a nasty temper, then you _clearly_ don’t know me very well.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” muttered Sirius, but he let Lily push past him and walk off, wondering why she was cursed with classmates like the Marauders.

**- &-&-&-**

After the first week, the days passed swiftly, and Lily found herself caught in the everlasting tangle of classes, homework, and arrangements for the contest. Two weeks before Halloween, the notices went up, inviting everyone to take part in the fancy-dress competition, with plenty of food and mystery entertainment afterwards. Emma, being fairly artistic, had helped with these, painting and duplicating the notices.

As far as co-operation went, Lily discovered that she was beginning to like James more as a friend. True, they still had at least one fight every meeting, these were becoming more friendly than aggressive, and James had proved to be both resourceful and funny.

What astonished Lily most of all was that the arrogant air that she had associated with him for the last six years, had dissipated completely, and he had not asked her out once during the time they were forced to be together; he was much nicer for it. Astonishingly enough, he seemed to have gone right to the other extreme; he had not been seen flirting with girls since the beginning of seventh year, despite Sirius’ usual girl-chasing antics. Now, Lily and Emma found themselves eating with the Marauders at least once every few days.

Although for six years, Lily had done her best to maintain a distant relationship with James, she now noticed that she was running into him more and more often. The situation was not helped when two professors decided to shift their students around. Professor Flitwick’s seating plan meant that Lily and Emma were partnered with James and Remus respectively. Then, Professor Astor, growing tired of James’ and Sirius’ everlasting inattention to lessons, switched James with Peter, leaving James and Remus sitting directly behind Lily and Emma. Lily observed that she was not the only one who was becoming slightly disgruntled with the whole thing; Emma looked like Christmas had been cancelled when she found out who she was to be working with in Charms, though Lily could see no reason why.

**~ &~**

A week before Halloween, disaster struck in the form of Professor McGonagall. Lily was perfectly aware that she had issues with the subject; she had only just scraped an ‘E’ on her OWL and things had not got any better. After yet another problematic lesson on animal transfiguration that Friday, she packed up, resolving to do something about it over the weekend, when Professor McGonagall cornered her.

“Miss Evans, I am sure that you realise that you have some difficulties regarding this subject.”

Lily launched into an explanation. “Professor, I know my grades aren’t very good, it’s just that I . . . I need some practice on animals, which I _will_ do, over the weekend, and I’m thinking about getting someone to tutor me, just to help me out.”

McGonagall’s face visibly relaxed. “Yes, I was going to suggest that. Perhaps someone like Mr. Lupin? It does not need to be permanent; I just feel that some extra help might clear up a few of your problems.”

“Of course, Professor,” and with that, Lily hurried out of the classroom. She spent most of Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms contemplating the idea of a tutor, and after dinner, she caught up with Remus, James and Sirius, who were heading up the stairs.

“Remus! Hey, REMUS!”

Remus looked back, and waited for her to catch up.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, when she had got her breath back.

“Nothing, it’s just that I have a favour to ask you. The thing is – the thing is,” Lily stumbled over her words. “I’m sort of having some . . .  problems with animal transfiguration, so I was wondering if you would mind just helping me out, like, next Thursday or something?”

Remus’ brow contracted. “I’m really sorry, Lily, but I’m busy all next week. I know someone who could help, though; they’re much better at it than I am. Hang on.” He raised his voice. “Oi, Prongs!”

It took a few moments for her to process this, but when James turned round, her worst fears were confirmed. “No, it’s alright, really,” she protested weakly, but Remus ignored her.

“Prongs, would you help Lily with Transfiguration next Thursday? She’s got a few problems.”

James’ eyes swept Lily up and down, as if expecting her to say it was a joke. “Lily? Help? Lily Evans?”

Recovering herself, Lily rolled her eyes. “ _No_ James, the _other_ Lily Evans in your class.”

“Sorry, just wouldn’t have expected _you_ to be asking for help from _me_.” He shrugged.

“Whatever. And for the record, that was Remus asking, not me. The point is, can you help?”

James nodded. “Sure. Library, eight o’clock?”

“Ok. See you there.” With that, Lily walked off, ignoring the whoop that came from Sirius as she turned the corner. Suddenly, she very much dreaded Thursday.

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

**A/N:** *coughREVIEWcough*


	5. Angst In Plenty

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?) Ack. to BCDaily.

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

** Chapter 5: Angst In Plenty **

Monday evening came and went, Lily and James frantically (well, as frantically as James could manage) finalising the schedule and arrangements for Halloween. They made time on Tuesday for an extra meeting, and with all the work that she had put in, Lily felt confident enough to put the contest aside and concentrate on her neglected homework in the library, early on Thursday evening. She had managed to secure a corner table, one of the more secluded study areas, with a large table ensconced on two sides by the walls, and on the other two by tall, almost floor-to-ceiling bookcases, with a small gap in between, so that students could enter and leave, and also so that Madam Pince could keep an eye on what was going on. All in all, it was very private, and Lily was feeling fairly content as she worked peacefully on a Charms essay, trying hard not to think of the upcoming tutoring session.

Suddenly, Emma stalked into the Lily’s alcove, almost threw herself and her bag down, and buried her head in her arms. Lily eyed her cautiously.

“Em?” she asked in a whisper.

Long moments passed. Distantly, Lily heard the library door swing open, and footsteps enter, come near them, and then stop at the tables next to their area.

“Em, what’s wrong?” she asked again Emma finally lifted her head, and Lily was startled to see that it was tear-streaked. What could have happened at a Prefects’ meeting to make Emma react like this? She moved over to Emma’s side, and put her arm round her. “Em, what happened? Did Malfoy or Narcissa say something?”

Emma shook her head mutely. “It’s not them.” She swallowed. “It’s Remus.”

Lily heard a soft gasp somewhere, but was too confused to register it. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Did he do something to you, Em? Because if he did, I swear I’ll -”

Emma smiled shakily, but her mouth soon drooped. “It’s nothing he did, Lily. Well, not really.”

Lily still looked (and felt) bewildered. “Ok, seeing as I can’t understand anything, let’s start at the beginning. What happened in the Prefects meeting to make you so . . . like this?”

“It’s nothing m-much.” Emma swiped at her eyes fiercely. “Just that we were organising who would help with what for Halloween, so me and Remus signed up for setting everything up with you and James,. And afterwards, everyone was really happy, because mostly everything was sorted, so we were all smiling and hugging each other. And – and Remus h-hugged me.” She dissolved into tears again, and Lily was shocked to see how helplessly her friend was crying. Emma was always so calm, and composed, and self-controlled.

“I can’t take it anymore,” she mumbled through her tears.

Comprehension dawned. “Em, you don’t . . . do you _like_ Remus?”

“I don’t like him.” Emma sniffed. “I hate him. I hate that he can do this to me. I hate him so much. I-I think I love him.”

Lily gaped openly. “ _What?_ ”

“I-I should have – should have told you b-before. I nearly did, when I first found out I was Prefect, and you were asking me. I’ve – I’ve liked him since fifth year. And I’ve t-tried to handle it, through all the meetings and lessons, but this was the last straw. I worked so hard to hide it, and I can’t do that anymore.”

Lily stared, She had sometimes suspected that Emma was hiding something, but she had no idea that this was the reason that her friend always seemed so tense about Prefect meetings. She put her hand on Emma’s shoulder. “Oh, Em.”

Emma again swiped ineffectually at her cheeks, and swallowed.

“I’ve decided,” she said in a stronger voice. “I’m going to Dumbledore first thing tomorrow to hand in my badge. I don’t want to feel like this all the time around him.”

“No! You can’t! Emma, please!”

“It’s no good. It’s too difficult, trying to act all the time. I think I might ask Professor Flitwick to move me as well.”

Lily thought fast. “Look Emma, can’t we at least talk about it? Come on, let’s go to the dormitory.”

Hastily, she shoved her things into her bag, and Emma wiped her red eyes with a tissue. Lily pushed her out, and picked up her own bag, but Emma had frozen, a few steps ahead. Moving forward, Lily saw what the problem was.

Remus Lupin had been sitting at the alcove next to theirs.

In one horrified glance, Lily took in everything. The parchment scattered over the table, proof that he must have genuinely been working. The bottle of ink that had spilled over the table as he stood up hastily. Worst of all, the proximity of the table to the bookcase that divided the areas. There was no way he could _not_ have heard everything Emma had said; one bookcase separating two tables a foot apart was not enough to block sound. _That_ much was evident from the way that he was staring at Emma, with his mouth open. Emma stared straight back at him for what seemed like an eternity, her face aghast. Then, with a terrified sob, she fled from the library. Taking a last glance at Remus’ gobsmacked expression, Lily followed, only catching up with her friend on the stairs to the dormitory.

**- &-&-&-**

Half an hour later, Lily had managed to calm Emma down, convince her not to hand in her badge until at least after Halloween, and even persuade her to go down and eat something. Emma rinsed her face and went, leaving Lily to bleakly realise that it was time to go down herself and meet James. Here comes the tutor from hell, she thought, as she opened the library door.

James was waiting for her in the same alcove where Emma had recently made such a dramatic confession, and Lily could not help but feel a slight sense of foreboding. Little did she foresee what was about to take place.

As she arrived, James was unloading a heap of books from his bag. He grinned as she stared in dismay at the pile.

“Don’t worry. These are just a few books I got out for Remus.”

‘Good,’ Lily said, in relief, still feeling a slight twinge of pity for Emma at the name dropped.

“Well, let’s do this, then,” and with that, he drew out a small white mouse, and placed it on the desk, holding its tail. Lily looked nonplussed.

“I know how to do that. I’ve known how to do that since fifth year.”

“Exactly!” James said. “So you should start with what you _do_ know, and then get to what you don’t.” He pointed his wand at the opening between the bookcases and muttered something. “A Silencing Charm,” he explained. “That way we can talk, and Pince won’t hear.”

Three quarters of an hour later, Lily had successfully Transfigured five mice, three newts, and one fat bullfrog, all of which James had magically **(A/N, no pun intended!)** produced from his bag. Oddly enough, Lily was actually feeling comfortable with the situation; James still laughed at her mistakes, but it was more of an unsarcastic one, and he had kept her spirits up fairly well.

Reaching into his bag once again, James produced what could only conceivably be a chicken, except that it was limp.

“Don’t worry, it’s fake. _Enervate_.” The fake bird rose up and began to scratch and peck at the table very realistically. For the millionth time, James rooted around in the bag.

“Damn, I’ve left the next bit up in my room.” He looked warily at Lily, who was sizing up the chicken. “I’ll go up and get it, if you think you can handle this by yourself?”

Lily nodded.

“Ok then. Be right back. You get to work.”

She watched his disappearing back as he left the library, and then turned her attention to the chicken, which was now flapping its wings in a despondent way. She cleared her throat.

“ _Aura Metamorphi_ ,” she said.

What happened next was slightly confusing.

The chicken . . . exploded, soundlessly, and yellow gunk spewed out onto Lily.

For seconds, Lily stared, motionless, at the remains of the bird lying on the table, her mind blank.

Slowly, she lowered her wand, just as James came back in, carrying (surprisingly) another bag. He stopped short at the sight in front of him, and his mouth twisted into a grin. ‘What the hell happened?’

As if in a dream, Lily looked past him, in the direction he had come from, and saw Sirius and Peter’s faces peering in between books, doing their best to hide smirks. Sirius. Peter. James. Lily’s mind flicked from one to the other, and something clicked.

This had all been a joke.

A big joke.

She turned round and began to put her books and wand into her own bag.

“Lily?” James sounded puzzled. “ _Scourgify_.” The yellow stuff disappeared from the shelves and floor, although it was still on Lily’s robes. She stood up.

“Your friends are over there,” she said coolly. James looked at the bookcase confusedly (acting innocent, a voice in Lily’s head said), and a look of understanding broke out on his face.

“You think that – I can explain – I had –“

“Save it, _Potter_ ,” she said evenly. Head held high, she walked calmly out of the library; past Madam Pince, past staring students, and out through the double doors, into the cool air of the corridor.

Only then did she begin to run.

She ran blindly. Behind her, she could hear distant shouts of “Lily!” and feet pounding, as James raced after her in hot pursuit; or perhaps that was not just feet, but the pounding of her own heart as well; her head whirling in a flurry of confused thoughts and emotions to match the pace of her legs. In such a turbid state of mind, it was no wonder that she lost her way several times, and was beginning to get a stitch when she finally reached a passage she recognised. She hurtled the length of the corridor and skidded to a halt in front of the Fat Lady.

“ _Amica fidele_ ,” she gasped at the portrait, clutching her side.

“LILY!” The voice sounded closer, as did the footsteps.

“What on earth have you been doing?” said the Fat Lady curiously.

“LILY! WAIT!” Lily looked back to see James turning the corner, his face red with effort.

“Please, just open!” she begged desperately. She could feel a tingling sensation in her throat, and cast another panicked look behind her. If she didn’t get away, she was going to –

“Oh, very well,” said the Fat Lady, sniffily, and she swung open.

Just as James reached it, the portrait closed, and the few seconds that it took him to say the password were all that Lily needed. She sprang across the Common Room, attracting even more attention, and was halfway up the stairs when James scrambled through the hole and sprinted after her. ‘Please! WAIT!’ he shouted, but it was too late. Lily had already reached the top and the staircase smoothed out into a slide, transporting James all the way down to the bottom. Disconsolately, he flung himself onto the bottom step and put his head in his hands.

Mind working on autopilot, Lily darted down the corridor leading to her dorm. She had to get there before -. Throwing open the door, she entered the silent, dark room, and hurled her bag haphazardly onto the bed, not noticing as all the contents spilled out.

She slumped against the wall, and slid down into a sitting position. Despite the mess on her robes, she rested her head on her arms, and began to cry.

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

**A/N:** Come on guys, I know I'm getting a decent number of hits on this fic, so please please please review? Because you're all such nice people? Or simply because you want to make my day? Come on, this counts as charity, and good karma! (I am not above bribing with cookies and ice cream)...so...reviews please!


	6. A Most Uncomfortable Day

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

** Chapter 6: A Most Uncomfortable Day **

“Lils?” said a voice uncertainly.

Emma stepped into the dormitory and flicked on the light. “Lils, are you in here? ‘Cause James is sitting at the bottom of our staircase, and he says he won’t move until you come down . . .” she trailed off as she caught sight of Lily, almost completely hidden behind the bed. “Oh my – Lily! Look at you! What happened?” Rushing over as Lily lifted her face, she scrabbled on the bedside table for tissues and handed them to her. As Lily mopped her face, covered in snot and tears, and her swollen red eyes, Emma attempted to get the mucky robe off her. Once done, she held it up, and wrinkled her nose in distaste.

“Lils, what’s going on?”

“You were right, Em. Boys are prats, and they’re too hard to deal with.” Wiping her nose again, she related the whole sordid story to Emma, whose calm face got paler and paler as she carried on, regardless of the fact that tears were beginning to fall again even as she spoke.

“Oh, _Lily_ ,” Emma murmured at last, sympathetically. She handed her another tissue. “Look, the best thing to do will be to completely ignore this. They just have a sick, twisted sense of humour, and you got caught on the end of it, so you should just forget about them.”

“It’s not that.” Lily shuffled back on her bed and crossed her legs. “I – For a while, until now, I was actually beginning to – to _like_ James, in a way. I trusted him to help me. Now I feel like such an idiot, because I shouldn’t have expected anything to change.”

“Yes you should.” Emma scooted closer, leaning in conspiratorially, but earnestly. “James _has_ changed. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you this, but he has. He doesn’t go out with anyone anymore – I haven’t even seen him _flirting_ with girls; he isn’t so arrogant, and he doesn’t hex people for no reason. There’s something different now, Lil.” 

**- &-**

The next day was exceptionally awkward.

Lily woke up, and the memories came flooding back into her head. Getting dressed quickly, she sneaked down to the kitchens and took a few things back to the dorm. She and Emma shared a quick breakfast on their beds.

As luck would have it, it was Friday, meaning that they had several classes with the Marauders. Lily and Emma got to Charms early, and Lily put her bag down next to Emma. When James sauntered in, he looked askance at her.

“Lily? You sit next to me in this lesson.”

Lily pulled out a piece of parchment, and scribbled a message on it, which she held up.

_I’M SITTING WITH EMMA._

“But, Lily, please. I really need to talk to you.”

She scribbled something else and held it up.

_TOUGH LUCK. GO AWAY._

“I tried to find you before classes, but you weren’t anywhere I could see you. Where did you go?”

_GO AWAY._

Just then, Remus came in, and a look of surprise flitted over his face as well. He walked straight up to them. “Emma, I thought we sat together.”

Emma avoided his eyes, choosing to focus instead on her bag. “Yeah, well, we aren’t today.”

“But,” Remus began, just as Professor Flitwick came in, and said cheerily, “Good morning class. Do sit down.” There was no choice but for James and Remus to take the empty seats in front of the girls. Judging by the amount of whispering that the two spent the lesson doing, Lily guessed that each had so far been unaware of the other’s situation.

**- &-**

Lunch was another tricky affair. Although Lily had planned to eat quickly and get out, James was too fast for her. Just as she was halfway through her shepherd’s pie, he came and seated himself next to her with the determined air of someone who intended to get his own way. “Lily, if you would just listen -” he began.

“So, Emma, have you finished your Potions essay yet?” Lily said over James in a loud voice, turning her back pointedly on him. “I lost track of what I was doing about halfway through, I just waffled on about nothing for about two feet.”

Emma gave James a quick look, before replying softly, “I haven’t done it yet.”

Just then, Remus strolled in. He looked around before noticing them, and although he faltered in step when he saw Emma, he resolutely put his bag down. Emma looked round, and jumped slightly as she saw him smile hesitantly at her. Dropping her fork on the table, she hastily stood up. “I should really get started on that essay now, in fact.” She climbed over the bench.

“I’ll come with you.” Lily finished her last mouthful and rose, casting an eye at Emma, who was already halfway across the Hall. She smiled sympathetically at Remus, gave James the dirtiest glare she could muster, and left.

**- &-**

Thankfully, Herbology passed without incident, and Lily was able to spend a peaceful hour repotting Dreamy Dandelions with Emma and a pair of friendly Hufflepuffs (trying not to inhale the floating seeds, which could cause strong hallucinations). She was not expecting any trouble in Defence Against the Dark Arts either, because the boys sat behind them, as opposed to beside them, but there she was wrong. She had been sitting down for five minutes when an unfamiliar, middle-aged woman came in and set her briefcase down on the desk.

“I am your substitute teacher today, as Professor Astor is ill. My name is Professor Stuart. Now, I have work for you . . .”

Within a quarter of an hour, it became apparent that Professor Stuart was completely incapable of controlling a class. Having set them a few pages of questions from the textbook, she retired behind a large blue tome with no title, and the class was left to its own devices, more or less, which obviously did not include studying. Lily and Emma were the only two writing industriously.

Pausing to consider an answer, Lily was startled to see a piece of parchment fall onto the book. Curiously, she opened it, and read the contents before screwing it up again and pushing it to a side. In James’ messy scrawl, it had read:

_Lily, would you PLEASE listen to me?_

Minutes later, another ball of parchment landed on the desk. This time, Lily didn’t bother reading it – she simply moved it to one side and continued working. The more she ignored the notes, the more that came, and soon, Emma, who had been opening them all and trying to put them where Lily would read them, had built up an entire one-sided conversation.

_Just give me a chance to explain, and you can hate my guts in peace after that if you want to._

_Can’t you listen to anything I’ve said, Lily?_

_Any answer at all would be good here._

_Please?_

_Stop ignoring these! And Emma, Remus says he needs to talk to you._

At this last note, Emma snorted, and wrote something on the parchment. Lily looked over her shoulder, her interest at last aroused.

_If he really wants to talk to me, he doesn’t need you as a mediator. –Emma._

The reply came back, as fast as lightning.

_Fine. Emma, this is Remus. I need to talk to you._

Scribbling furiously, Emma wrote something else and threw it behind again.

_Well I don’t want to talk. Please leave me be._

Although the note came sailing back, Emma ignored it. Lily took this as a sign that the brief exchange was at an end, and returned to discussing the finer points of hex deflection. She made very sure that James was in a perfect viewing position at the end of the lesson as she ripped up each of his notes separately into tiny pieces and threw them in the bin before stalking out. Emma appeared at her shoulder as she went. “Lily, that wasn’t fair.”

“What wasn’t?” Lily asked innocently.

“What you just did. I know you’re angry and hurt, but wasn’t ignoring the notes enough? If you wanted to throw the notes away, then you didn’t have to do it _that_ way. That was just spiteful. Don’t bring yourself low just to make him feel bad.”

“What would YOU know about it, Em?” Lily yelled suddenly, making people around her jump. “You like someone, and it’s your own fault that you won’t do anything about it! I thought you were on my side!”

“I _am_ on your side, Lily,” said Emma, in a voice that was much cooler than usual. “But that does _not_ mean that I can support what you did. It was downright mean.”

Lily subsided a little. “All right,” she said, in a pacified tone. “I won’t do it again. But I _still_ refuse to acknowledge that he exists.”

A flicker of hope had crossed Emma’s face as she said the first sentence, but it faded again as she said the second. She was wise enough not to push it.

They walked on in silence. Lily could almost feel the cold waves of hurt radiating off her friend.

“Emma?” she said in a small voice. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did about you. I didn’t mean it, I was just angry.” She touched Emma on the arm, and swung her around to face her. “Friends?”

To her relief, Emma smiled. “Always.” She pulled her into a hug, but then let go and stood at arms’ length. “Just be careful what you say in a heated moment, Lils. You might regret it afterwards.” She looked at her watch and sighed. “Now, can we _please_ go to dinner?”

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**A/N:** Review? Pretty pretty please? With a cherry on top?


	7. Halloween Part I

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

  **Rated pg-13 for minor sexual references. You have been warned!**

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

** Chapter 7: Halloween I – The Morning Before **

A dreamy landscape blurred into reality. Blinking, James rolled over, and taking his glasses from the bedside table, he peered at his clock. A split second later he had swung himself out of bed and dashed to the bathroom.

He swore as he attempted to brush his teeth and wash his face at the same time. Back in the dormitory, he noticed Remus’ neatly made-up bed opposite. _Why didn’t he wake me up?_ he wondered, as he frantically pulled on a pair of jeans and the first t-shirt he could find. Surely he had known just as well as James that they were both due to help set up in the hall for the Halloween festivities that evening? Yanking socks on and stuffing his feet into his trainers, James scrambled down to the Great Hall, where he was met by a very disapproving McGonagall.

“And just where have you been, Mr Potter?”

“Sorry,” James said apologetically, running a hand unconsciously through his hair. He followed her past the doors into the Hall. Remus was already there, doing something to a heap of pumpkins. Emma stood about five feet away, apparently using her wand to charm candles into having different-coloured flames.

“Seeing as you are late,” McGonagall said curtly, “you may as well begin moving the tables and chairs.” She indicated with a wave of her hand the stacked tables around the edges of the chamber. “You will do it without magic.”

“But Professor,” James began.

“No buts,” McGonagall said firmly. “Now, the positions for the tables are marked on the ground . . .”

James’ gaze around the room was suddenly arrested in a corner. He had been wondering distantly where the Head Girl herself was, but he had obviously not recognised her. Lily had climbed up onto a pile of tables, and appeared to be attaching strings of decorations to the walls. Her long red hair was loose, falling straight down her back. It was her clothing that made James suddenly feel so dizzy. He had never seen her wear anything quite so casual, yet so . . . provocative, and so _revealing_. She was dressed in blue denim jeans, black trainers, and a white tank top with spaghetti straps. It accentuated her slender figure perfectly. While McGonagall droned on, James watched Lily fiddling with something. His stomach did a flip-flop, and he almost had to stifle a groan as she stretched up to put it on the wall. As she raised her arms, a few inches of creamy skin at her waist were exposed, and her slim waist and narrow hips looked even more obvious. James couldn’t understand how he hadn’t noticed before what a beautiful figure she had. Then again, he reasoned with himself, wizarding robes didn’t reveal much, and neither did the baggy sweatshirts that she usually wore. James felt a blush rise in his cheeks as she extended herself again . . . and that wasn’t the only part of his body that reacted to the sight.

“ . . . six chairs will be quite sufficient. MR POTTER, ARE YOU LISTENING?”

James looked guiltily back at Professor McGonagall. “Yes Professor, sorry.”

“Well then, you had better get on with the job.” McGonagall was quite clearly still miffed with him, but James’s gaze had drifted back to Lily. She had stiffened in mid-reach when McGonagall had shouted out his name, and there was no way that she could not know that he had arrived. Mentally forcing himself _not_ to look at her again, he made his way over to Remus and began pulling a table from a stack. Remus looked down at his feet and smirked.

“Nice socks, Prongs. Is it a new way to pick up the girls?”

James looked down as well. He was wearing mismatched socks; one with a pattern of Snitches on it, and the other with pumpkins.

“Well, I _would_ have been able to find a proper pair if you’d woken me up on time,” he said, through gritted teeth.

“I did,” Remus said serenely. “You called me a wanker and rolled over.”

Having no reply for this, James simply snorted and lifted up the table again to begin his arduous task. As he positioned it over one of the yellow dots on the floor, which McGonagall had said were marked on to show where tables should be placed, he surveyed the stacks around him. This was going to take a while.

**- &-**

Half an hour later, James was aching all over. The circular tables, pretty as they looked, were very heavy, and although he was almost three-quarters of the way through, his arms were killing, and his head was aching from trying _not_ to stare at Lily too much as she continued to work. Remus had finished charming the pumpkins and was now positioning them to float over the tables in mid-air, while Emma placed candles in and lit them. It was quite obvious to even the most innocent and uninformed bystander that she was putting a great effort into not exchanging more than a few sentences with Remus as they worked; invariably, she would find something else to concentrate on, or somewhere else to go every time he came near.

More than anything, James now wished that he had woken up in time to get dressed properly. The t-shirt he had thrown on had already been one of those which were too tight, and now, soaked with sweat as he was, it was clinging uncomfortably snugly to his body, revealing rather too much of him. He felt horribly exposed, and if it were not for the wrath of McGonagall, and more importantly, of a certain redhead, he would have gone up to change long ago. As it was, he simply gritted his teeth (again), attempted to stop his t-shirt sticking to him (again), and began dragging another table (again).

THUMP.

James whirled round in time to see Emma crumple to the floor, and a pumpkin roll away.

He swore and started towards them. Remus had knelt down beside her, very pale, trying to wake her up.

“EMMA!” Lily cried. Lithe as a cat, she sprang off the table lightly and ran over.

Carefully, she lifted Emma’s head from where it was lying in Remus’ lap, and examined it. There was a gash on the top, which was bleeding freely onto her hair.

Remus groaned, but Lily smiled at him sympathetically as she probed the wound with careful fingers.

“She’ll be fine, Madam Pomfrey will heal this in about thirty seconds. What hit her? A pumpkin?” Her eyes moved round the hall, pointedly avoiding James, and came to rest on the stray orange globe lying in the middle of the floor. “That one?”

“I-I was levitating the pumpkins and I sort of – lost concentration, and it fell.” Remus smiled weakly. “Nothing happened to the pumpkin of course, it has an Unbreakable Charm on it – it’s just Emma . . .” He gestured at her.

“Well, you’d better take her to the Hospital Wing,” James said.

Lily fished in her pocket, and produced a piece of cloth – James had no idea what it was for. “Put this on the wound and put pressure on it.”

Remus stood, bringing Emma’s prone form with him. “Are you sure _you_ shouldn’t take her? I mean, I’m hardly the first person she’ll want to see. She’ll probably kill me when she finds out.”

Lily put her hands on her hips.

“Remus John Lupin, stop being such a coward. She will NOT kill you, because I know what she’s like, and besides, do you really think I would be able to carry her? Take her up.”

Gingerly, Remus lifted Emma into his arms, supporting her unconscious head on his chest. He slowly took her out. Lily and James were left standing there, watching the empty doors. Lily turned round to James. For a moment, he thought that she was going to say something; her mouth opened – but then she gave him a sad look and walked away to clamber back up on a stack of tables and continue decorating. Sighing inwardly, James went back to hoisting the tables.

Despite the fact that it had been quiet before, the tense, uncomfortable silence that now pervaded the hall was deafening. James knew it was no use talking to her – he needed to wait until he was in a situation where she had no way of avoiding or ignoring him – but he still felt thoroughly depressed as he wiped his forehead. This could have been so much more fun and less like work if they were being normal. They would have been laughing together and joking, not standing at opposite ends of the hall, trapped in their own silence.

Eventually, James looked round, and groaned quietly. Reluctantly, he approached the final stack of tables, upon which Lily was standing. He cleared his throat to announce his proximity, and she froze at once.

“Uhm, I need to move the tables. That you’re on, I mean.”

Lily turned and shot a glance round the room. When she had satisfied herself that there were indeed no other tables that he could move, she sighed, dusted her hands off on her jeans, and slid down. Without a backward glance, she marched over to the remaining pile of pumpkins and began to continue what Remus and Emma had been doing. James finished the tables and started on the chairs. Taking up a pile of cloths, Lily began to polish the tables and spread tablecloths on then. She managed to completely stay away from any area that James was working in, and did not open her mouth once.

Finally, around two o’clock, the job was finished, and James appraised the room with no small feeling of contentment. Lily turned on her heel and walked away. Acting on impulse, James hurried after, casting around for a statement, a question, _anything_.

“Lily?” he said as he caught up with her. “Do we need to be there early tonight?”

“No,” Lily said, so quietly that he barely heard her, and she lengthened her strides and quickened her pace.

Unfortunately for her, James, being taller, had no problem in matching her speed.

“Are you sure?” he queried, as casually as he could manage.

“Yes. Can’t you just leave me alone? Please!” Lily was beginning to feel very much in need of something to soothe her nerves – it was the effect that James had had on her for the last few days, since the library incident.

James did not reply. He slowed down, allowing her to walk on ahead, and then headed up to his dorm, only to be met by a very excited Sirius.

“Have you heard about Fay Fletcher? People say she’s going to dress as a hooker! I can’t wait for the whole contest thing, mine is going to be the BEST.” He began bouncing around the room, singing loudly, albeit slightly off-key. “ _Oh I just can’t wait for tonight!_ ” 

_Oh yeah_ , James thought sarcastically, as he followed Sirius past the beds, picking up anything that fell down. _I really can’t wait for tonight_.

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

**A/N:** Sirius's singing above was supposed to be to the tune of "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" from the Lion King. And yes, I know Sirius wouldn't be likely to know this, but who cares? It fits ::grins:: Anyway. Reviews? Please? You know you want to...


	8. Halloween Part II

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

** Chapter 8: Halloween II – The Evening After **

_Feelin’ blue,_

_When I’m tryin’ to forget the feeling_

_that I miss you._

**- &-**

A clock ticked unceasingly as Lily carefully turned the page of the book she had been attempting to read. Grimacing slightly, she skimmed halfway down the page before giving up. Rolling over on her bed, she pushed the book underneath, and reached for a magazine. A quarter of the way through “ _How To Curse Your Ex To Pieces (Without Breaking Any Laws)_ ’, Emma came in. Though she looked her usual calm self, something was . . . not normal. There was an air of suppressed joy about her – her eyes looked bright, and she had what could only be described as a spring in her step.

Lily looked up.

“Em!” she cried, getting up. “Are you alright?”

“Totally blood-free.” Emma grinned. “Madam Pomfrey healed it in about a minute, apparently, and I came round half an hour later.” She looked round. “Where is everyone?”

“Gone to Hogsmeade. Last minute ‘necessities’, they called it.” Lily sat back down on her bed. “I have everything I need already.” Her eyes fell upon the clock on her table, and she frowned. “Emma, if you were okay after half an hour . . . then where have you been for the last one and a half hours?”

Emma avoided Lily’s keen stare. “Uh. That. I was . . . you know . . . going places, meeting people, doing things.”

Lily eyed Emma’s fast-reddening complexion. “Yeah, right! Emma Vance, you are hiding something from me, and I am exercising my full rights as best friend to demand that you tell me what it is!”

“Nothing! Just . . . Remus . . .” She touched her lips tentatively.

“HE KISSED YOU! Oh my -” Lily suddenly found herself speechless.

“Shh!” Emma said, but she was smiling too. “The whole House’ll hear!”

“When did this happen?” demanded Lily breathlessly, having regained her voice. “How? Where?”

Emma sat down comfortably on the bed and grinned.

“Well, I woke up in the Hospital Wing, and the first thing I saw was his face, looking all anxious. Except when he saw my eyes open, I think he must have jumped back about a foot, because he fell right off his chair.” She laughed, and so did Lily. “Then, once he’d picked himself up, he started asking me how I was feeling – but when I said that I had a bit of a headache, he looked all depressed, and told me he had dropped . . . what was it?”

“A pumpkin?” Lily supplied helpfully.

“That’s it. He said he had dropped a pumpkin on me and I had gone unconscious. I still don’t remember that . . .” Emma shook her head bemusedly, as if to clear it.

“Go on,” Lily urged.

“Yeah, so then after we had got past that, he suddenly gave me this really serious look, and said, ‘Emma, we need to talk about the other day.’ And at first I was really confused, because I couldn’t remember anything . . . and then it all came back to me. So I rolled over, because I really didn’t want to have to look at him, you know? And he said, ‘I honestly didn’t mean to overhear what you were saying that night,’ so I went, ‘But you did anyway, didn’t you? That’s the problem.’ The thing is, I _do_ believe him, at least now, because . . . well, he sounded sincere. I think.”

“Then what happened?” Lily asked eagerly.

“Then he goes, ‘It’s just that . . . that . . .’ I got kind of irritated, because I was thinking ‘ _If he wants to tell me he hates me, he should just do it,_ ’ and I said ‘That what?’ And that’s when he said, ‘That I feel the same way. As you.” Emma cocked her head slightly. “And for a moment, I just couldn’t breathe. I turned over to look at him and went, ‘Is this a joke?’ He just gave me this look, and said, really quietly,’ I meant what I said.’ Then he looked at his watch and goes, really fast, ‘ Oh, damn, I have to go meet . . . uhm, James, so I’ll see you around,’ and he half-ran out.”

“No, no, no, no, stupid, _stupid_ Remus,” Lily groaned, letting herself fall onto her back. A few seconds later, she sat up again sharply. “Hang on, what am I saying? There’s more to tell, right? Keep talking.”

“Well, as soon as Madam Pomfrey let me get up, I went off, and I figured I would find Remus, because I couldn’t just leave the whole thing hanging. I looked everywhere . . . and I mean, _everywhere_.” Emma scowled at the memory. “The library, the owlery, the kitchens, the hall, the common room, the lake and the Quidditch pitch – I even got Peter to check the boys’ dormitory. Then I got tired of searching for someone who was so obviously trying to avoid me, so I just wandered around. That’s when I found him. He was . . . sitting on the floor in the middle of a corridor, staring at his hands.” She shifted uncomfortably, and Lily got the feeling that it was becoming harder to express in words what she had felt. “He looked . . . well, lost. So I walked up to him, and said something like, ‘I meant what I said, that day in the library.’ He jumped, and then he got up really slowly and gave me this look – it felt like he was trying to read my mind, or analyse me.” Emma looked very distant, as if she were reliving the past as she told it. “And then, he said quietly, ‘Really?’ and I think I nodded.” She laughed softly. “I said something like ‘Always,’ but it didn’t matter because then, he – he kissed me.” She looked at her hands.

Lily lowered her own hands, which had been over her mouth.

“That is the most romantic thing I have ever, ever heard, and the best thing about it is that it’s _true_. What did it feel like?”

Emma laughed again. “It was . . . wonderful. He was nervous at first, but then he relaxed . . . and his lips are so soft.” She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again to shoot a wicked grin at Lily. “He has a very nice body too.”

Lily’s mouth fell open. “Too much information, Em! He’s your boyfriend, not mine!”

“He said he’s liked me since fourth year, when I had to spend so much time helping him with Astronomy homework, remember?”

Lily smiled. “You two must have either been very good at hiding it, or completely blind.” She looked at her watch. “The others’ll be back from Hogsmeade soon. We might as well start getting ready for the contest now. You know what Serena’s like when she hogs the mirrors. Besides, we should get decent seats tonight as well.”

Emma looked uncomfortable. “Yeah…about that. Lils, would you mind if we sat with Remus?”

Lily opened her mouth to say yes, and then closed it again. “That means sitting with . . .”

“Sirius, James and Peter. Yeah.” Emma fidgeted as Lily began to shake her head.

“I am not sitting with them. Especially with that prick of a Head Boy. You sit with Remus, I’ll find…Callie or something.” Callie West was one of their dorm mates.

“No! Lily, I am NOT letting you go off by yourself! Look, if you want me to, I’ll tell Remus I can’t. Or else, just sit with us. You can still talk to me and Remus. Please?”

Lily looked at Emma’s beseeching expression and relented. “Ok,” she said, grudgingly. “But do NOT leave me with those jerks, or I will walk off and I will not come back.”

“Done!” said Emma happily. “This is going to be _perfect_.”

**- &-**

_Feelin’ green,_

_When the jealousy swells_

_And it won’t go away_

_in dreams._

**- &-**

By ten to six, the seventh-year girls’ dormitory was loud and noisy, with everyone rushing around. Emma, however, was ready, and so was Lily, who was just adding the finishing touches to her hair.

“Didn’t anyone tell you that catsuits are _so_ out of fashion?” Serena said nastily as she passed by.

Emma turned. “Didn’t anyone tell you that I don’t care?” she questioned innocently. Serena made a huffing noise as she turned to the mirror.

“Ignore her, Em. You look great,” Lily said, and it was true. She was wearing a black leather catsuit, which looked stunning on her slim body, and daring high-heeled black ankle boots. Her chestnut hair had been straightened, and a streak of eyeshadow completed her look. Strangely enough, Lily had noticed that since her meeting with Remus, she seemed a lot more relaxed and self-assured, and it was doing wonders to her already calm demeanour.

“And I suppose you look awful?” Emma said sarcastically. Lily looked down at her simple costume, and sighed. She wished she had had the courage now to wear something more adventurous.

“We’d better go,” she said absently. 

Emma slipped on a pair of shades, and grinned mysteriously. “Come on.” Laughing, the two of them made their way down to the Great Hall.

**- &-**

_Feelin’ yellow,_

_I’m confused inside,_

_A little hazy but mellow,_

_then I feel your eyes_

_On me_

**- &-**

James saw her the moment she walked in, and his heart seemed to freeze up for a moment. She and Emma had paused, just inside the doors to look around, and from where he was seated, he had a perfect vantage point. She was dressed in a white dress with drooping sleeves, which seemed tailored to fit her, and emphasise her naturally trim (in James’ eyes) figure **(A/N: think of the white dress that Eowyn wore in The Lord of the Rings; The Two Towers at Rohan, just when Theodred died and Grima tried to get his ugly paws on her)**. Her skin glowed, and her hair, hanging straight down her back, had highlights of different hues of red in it, giving her a thoroughly individual look. Above her head, a magical halo glittered; interwoven magical sparks of gold.

-&-

_Feelin’ fine_

_Sublime,_

_When that smile of yours creeps into my mind, oh._

_- &-_

Emma spotted them and began to walk over, Lily following. Beside him, James heard Remus shift uncomfortably. Emma reached them first and smiled at Remus, who blinked, and then leapt out of his seat and bowed, before kissing her hand. “Remus Lupin at your service, milady.”

“Emma Vance, international spy.” She removed her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow. “A Tudor nobleman?”

“But of course.” He turned to Lily. “And we have the Princess Lily in our company tonight?”

“Actually,” Lily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s an angel.” She reached behind her.

“But where are your . . .” Sirius began, just as Lily found what she was looking for.

Without warning, a large pair of shimmering wings unfurled from her back, causing Remus to step back in shock.

“ . . . wings,” Sirius finished lamely.

“They’re a bit cumbersome, aren’t they?” Lily smiled amicably, but it was quite apparent that it was only directed at two people – Emma and Remus. “That’s why they fold up.” She reached behind again, and a moment later, the wings closed up again, yet when Remus looked at her back, there was no evidence of there having ever been any sort of apparatus to release wings – she merely appeared to be wearing a dress.

They sat down, and very soon, the table had become split into two groups. Lily, Emma and Remus were talking together, and on the other side, James, Sirius and Peter had their heads together. Or rather, Sirius and Peter, since James was in his own world of thought. The silences that inevitably occurred were still rather painful, and despite every attempt Remus made, Lily refused to join in any conversation involving James.

**- &-**

_Feelin’ red,_

_When you spend your time_

_with your friends_

_and not me instead._

**- &-**

Soon enough, the contest started. The five judges, Professor Dumbledore and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Singrey, respective Heads of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, sat at a long table, and the students paraded past as their name was called out. Faye Fletcher had indeed come dressed as a prostitute, and received a large share of shocked looks at her raunchy outfit. Sirius caused a big stir among the girls as he sauntered along, dressed as he was, like an American gangster, with the accent to match, and James got much the same response in his neat black and white tuxedo, although Lily still had no idea who he was meant to be, as she had blocked her ears to avoid hearing his voice when he told the judges. Emma, too, got several whistles from the boys in her catsuit. Lily herself found that while she got no whistles, the brilliancy of her complexion and her innocent manner got her a lot of compliments. Some people had obviously made a lot of effort on themselves, and it was a happy crowd of trolls, fairies, magical creatures, and characters from history, literature and films that sat down to eat.

After she had finished her apple pie, Lily excused herself to go to the bathroom, growing tired of the awkward silences. When she got there, however, she was startled to hear a loud sob as she washed her hands. She looked cautiously around the otherwise empty room.

“Is that you, Moaning – sorry, I mean, Myrtle?” she called out tentatively.

She was answered a few minutes later by another sob, this time more muffled. Advancing on the toilet at the end, she pushed at it to find that it was locked.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Go away.” The voice sounded strangely familiar.

“If you don’t unlock the door, I’m going to climb up and look over it anyway,” she pointed out.

“Go away.”

Lily racked her brain, trying to match the voice with a name.

“Sapphire?” she asked in amazement. “It’s Lily. Open the door!”

For a few seconds, there was nothing. Then the lock clicked, and Lily pushed the door open to see Sapphire Heathleigh, one of her dorm mates, and Callie’s best friend, sitting on the toilet, her face streaked with tears.

“Saffy! What’s wrong?”

Sapphire shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Come on, tell me.”

“Nothing . . . just that Callie broke up with me.” A single tear made its way down her cheek.

“What? Why?” Lily exclaimed, furiously racking her brains to work out what was going on. Weren’t Callie and Sapphire best friends? But Sapphire began to cry again, and Lily sensed that this was probably _not_ the best time to inquire. Instead, she hauled Sapphire to her feet.

“Come out. You can come sit with us. Let’s just clean you up a bit.” She offered her some tissues, and soon Sapphire’s face had returned to normal, except for a few red blotches on her cheeks. Dusting both their dresses off, Lily talked cheerfully to Sapphire as they headed back.

“That’s a lovely costume.” She looked admiringly at her sleeveless grass-green dress of sheer gauze, which hung loosely on her willowy frame, and the circlet of daisies in her pale brown hair. “Are you an earth maiden or something?”

“A Dryad,” replied Sapphire, seemingly grateful to hear a friendly voice. “You know, the tree goddesses from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.”

“Oh, I used to love that book!” Lily said in delight.

Arriving in the Hall as the food was cleared away, Lily led Sapphire to their table.

“Get an extra chair, will you Remus? Sapphire’s going to hang around with us for the evening.”

A chorus of ‘Hi’s resounded, and Sapphire smiled tremulously as she sat down. Leaning across, James began a conversation with her, although Sirius seemed unable to look at her and appeared to spend a lot of time gazing at the floor instead.

**- &-** ****

_Feelin’ black,_

_When I think about_

_All of the things_

_that I feel I lack._

**- &-**

For her part, Lily was feeling fairly content with the fact that she was only talking to three people on the table (or so she told herself), and she watched contently as Daniel Jordan ascended the stage.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, for your evening entertainment, we have a performance from . . . the Charmed Ones!”

Three witches walked out onto the stage to wild applause, and immediately struck up a bouncy tune as the lights dimmed. It had been a stroke of luck that Lily and James had been able to hire such a popular and well-known group. Girls were keen on them because of their singing, and boys liked them because of their . . . well, looks. How superficial. Lily settled back in her chair and sighed.

Halfway through the concert, Lily decided to visit the toilet again. She had just come out of the Hall quietly, when she realised that there was someone blocking her way. A greasy-haired someone.

“Out alone, Mudblood?” he sneered.

“Go away, Snape.”

“Oh, but why would I do that? You’re not even being polite.”

“Snape, get out of my way.” Lily knew she was getting riled.

“You haven’t even said please.”

“I don’t intend to.”

Something in her voice made Snape tense. “Then maybe you should learn how.” Without warning, he whipped out his wand, and suddenly Lily felt her arm being twisted behind her back. She opened her mouth to cry out with the pain, but could not make a sound – Snape had put a Silencing Charm on her. She writhed helplessly, grimacing as her arm began to cramp. Snape was watching her in a kind of miserable satisfaction.

The next thing she knew, the pain in her arm had suddenly abated, and Snape had been thrown to the ground. Lily spun around, massaging her freed and painful arm, to see James standing there, fury radiating from his darkened hazel eyes, and his wand trained on Snape.

“What makes you think that you have a right to curse someone who is innocent?” he said, his voice dangerously low and cold.

Snape sat up slowly and began to move towards his wand. James jerked his own, and Snape’s wand rose in mid-air and flew another few feet away.

“I know that was an unprovoked attack for a fact. Fifty points from Slytherin for that alone. Then there was the fact that you were intentionally causing another student harm. Another fifty points gone from Slytherin.” His voice shook slightly, but the hand that held the wand was quite steady.

Snape made an unexpected dive towards his wand, go it, and scrambled to his feet. He opened his mouth to curse James, but James was too fast for him. “ _Expelliarmus_ ,” he said, and Snape’s wand soared to James. “You’ll get this back tomorrow – when I’ve reported you to McGonagall. Go.” Snape didn’t need to be asked twice. He shot them a look of pure hatred and walked off, not towards the Great Hall, but the dungeons. At the top of the stairs that led down to them, he stopped and turned.

“I’ll get you for this, Potter. And you, _Mudblood_.” With that, he was gone.

**- &-**

_Feelin’ jaded,_

_When it’s not gone right,_

_All the colours have faded,_

_then I feel your eyes_

_On me_

_Feelin’ fine,_

_Sublime,_

_When that smile of yours_

_creeps into my mind, oh._

**- &-**

James lowered his wand, and looked warily at Lily, who gazed straightforwardly back at him. She was the first to speak.

“I’m not some damsel in distress.”

“I know.”

“And you’re not a knight in shining armour.”

“No.”

“So you don’t need to come and rescue me all the time.”

“Ok.”

“Because I could have handled that perfectly well on my own if I’d been prepared.”

“That’s good.”

James turned and began to head back to the Hall.

“But . . .”

He swivelled round again.

“Thank you.” She smiled at him. “I would have been much worse off _today_ if you hadn’t turned up.”

“No problem.” James was reaching breaking point. “Can we talk?”

“In light of recent events, I suppose so.”

“Look Lily, about that whole library incident. I wasn’t involved, I swear. Sirius and Peter planned the entire thing – they were the ones who suggested that I use the fake bird they had made to help tutor you. I’m sorry because I should have realised that they were plotting something because they were so interested in all the details of where, when and how, but apart from that, I’m sick of this.” All of a sudden, James heard his voice rising as the frustration of the past few days poured out. “I’m sick of being ignored when I didn’t do anything wrong! When I tried to explain everything, I don’t know how many times, all I got was a cold shoulder! It’s…It’s ridiculous! I know I haven’t exactly been a model person over the years, but that does NOT amount to this much! So why don’t we just go inside, forget this whole thing ever happened, and you can go back to hating my guts in peace, like you have done for the last seven years! Maybe we should just stay away from each other!” He began to move away, towards the Hall, but Lily hurried forward and pulled at his arm.

“James? Please, wait.” A shock passed up her hand as it made contact with his robes, and she withdrew it instantly, willing her eyes to convey the message instead. It was the use of his first name, as well as the spark that had passed between them, that made him turn round and look at her reluctantly.

“I’m – I’m sorry. So sorry.” Lily tried to keep her gaze steady. “I didn’t know. And I know it’s my fault that I didn’t listen, and I am honestly and truly sorry.” She blinked, trying to choke back the unexpected lump in her throat. “But please forgive me. I don’t hate your guts, and I don’t want to stay away from you, because . . . I can’t. We’re friends,” she added hastily.

James’ eyes softened as he looked at her pleading expression, and he raked a hand through his hair.

Just then, Lily focused on the doors behind him, and James swung round to see Sirius’ head appear.

“Hi people,” he said jauntily. “Look Lily, before you slap me, I just wanted to say that you should forgive James. Me and Peter -” Here Sirius turned round to look behind, and frowned. “Okay, Peter’s run off, since he’s a chicken – no pun intended,” he added quickly, as Lily flinched. “We take full responsibility for the whole . . . uh, event. So you and Jamesie can get back together, seeing as I’m being so mature, and everything.”

James’ neck went red as he glared at Sirius.

“Padfoot?” he said, through gritted teeth.

“Yeah?”

“Go away.”

“Oh. Am I interrupting something here?” Confusion spread over Sirius’ handsome features.

“Yes!” Lily groaned.

“Oh. Whoops! Sorry.” He disappeared, and Lily looked back at James, who was staring at the floor and running a hand through his hair distractedly.

“Please?” she repeated softly. She stretched her arm out again, but, realising what she was doing, stopped halfway, her hand suspended in mid-air. “Friends?”

Masking his bitterness, James finally nodded, after a long moment. Grasping her hand and trying to ignore the sensations that told him how warm and soft her hand was, or how perfectly it fit into his, he looked her squarely in the eyes. “Friends.”

Lily grinned happily. “Looks like you’re saddled with me again, Mr Potter.” Her eyes fell upon the top two buttons of his shirt, undone alluringly, and she swallowed again.

“Oh well. I’ll blame it on the Butterbeer,” James responded teasingly.

“Er, who or what are you meant to be anyway?” Lily asked curiously. James assumed a serious expression and put on a posh accent.

“Bond. James Bond. Charmed to meet you.” He lifted her hand, as if to kiss it, but then, for no reason that Lily could see, dropped it suddenly. Instead, he bowed dramatically.

Lily laughed and began to walk towards the Hall. “Oh. Well, come on, Mr Bond. Sweet as this reunion is, I don’t want to miss the whole concert because of you.”

“Likewise,” James replied, as he followed her.

_Friends,_ he thought. _Friends with a smart, beautiful, funny girl._

_I’m an idiot._

**- &-**

_Blinded by the light you shine, the colours fade completely._

_Blinded by you every time, I feel your smile defeat me._

_I’m colour blind_

_I just can’t deny this feeling._

_Nobody told me you’d feel so good,_

_Nobody said you’d be so beautiful,_

_Nobody warned me about your smile,_

_You’re the light, you’re the light_

_When I close my eyes_

_I’m colour blind._

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

**A/N:** Okay, sorrysorrysorry for the loooong wait between chapters - I've been struggling with exams for the past...I don't know how long. A couple of months, at least. But now I'm back, and fully determined to carry on posting! (But a little encouragement would be very much appreciated...how about a review?)


	9. He Loves U Not

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

**A/N: Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews – it’s nice to know I haven’t been forgotten!**

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

Chapter 9: He Loves Me, He Loves U Not

The next day had a very tranquil air about it. Although school was still on, most people got up late and lazed in the Common Room for at least half an hour, yawning, before doing anything else.

Lily was the first to wake in her dormitory. She padded over the thick, soft carpet to Emma’s side and shook her gently, but Emma groaned and huddled under the duvet.

“Le’ me alo’.”

Deciding it was no use, Lily went off, and took a long shower. A she let the warm streams of water run over her head and soothe her, she couldn’t help but wonder about Serena. The girl had glowered at her for almost the whole evening after she had returned with James in tow, laughing and talking. Although Serena usually acted rather . . . catty, she had seemed to dislike her even more last night, and Lily was quite at a loss to understand why.

She pulled on a pair of jeans and a green turtleneck, and grabbing a book, headed down to the empty common room, where she curled up in front on the fire on a squashy old sofa and began to read.

For the next hour, the Common Room was silent and peaceful, deserted except for Lily. Oblivious of time, she read on, while the fire crackled merrily beside her, and cool daylight crept slowly across the circular room. At one point, she looked up to hear footsteps, hoping it would be Emma, but instead, Tom Jacobs and Keegan Adams, the other two seventh-year boys who shared a dormitory with the Marauders, came down the stairs, talking quietly. They were dressed in tracksuit bottoms, and Lily supposed inattentively that they were going out for an early morning run. Keegan simply nodded at her in acknowledgement, while Tom greeted her with a smile and a “Hey Lily,” before he too vanished through the Portrait hole.

A short while later, Lily was once again deep in her book, when she heard the portrait hole open again, and someone clambered through. Assuming that it was Tom or Keegan come back for something, or just another early riser, she did not bother to look up. 

Footsteps sounded towards the middle of the room, then stopped.

“Oh look. It’s the red-head whore.”

“What?” Lily raised her head to see Serena Parkinson glaring at her, hands on hips. 

“Need your hearing checked, do you? I suppose you would, after all the shouting a certain _person_ did in your ear last night during the concert.”

Carefully, Lily put her book down and stood up. She looked Serena coolly up and down, from her straight honey-blonde hair that reached just below her shoulders, all the way down to her high-heeled pink sandals, even though it was a cool October morning, and not yet even breakfast; in fact, barely past sunrise; no weather for sandals.

“Excuse me?” she asked coldly. “Who or what are you talking about?”

“You know perfectly well who I mean, you two-faced slag!” Serena’s voice was getting higher and louder. Lily raised an eyebrow.

“No, actually, I don’t,” she said calmly. “Would you like to, uh, _clarify_ who it is that you’re talking about?”

“You are so thick,” Serena sneered. “All right, I’ll tell you. Does the name _James Potter_ ring any bells? Sleeping with him now, are we?”

For a moment, Lily stared at her in disbelief, convinced that she had heard something wrong. Then she began to laugh. 

“That is the single most . . . _ridiculous_ thing I have ever heard!” she gasped, clutching her side as she laughed.

“You can’t cover up whatever it is that’s going on by just laughing, Evans. I’m not stupid!”

“Well you obviously are, if you honestly think that! For one thing, I would never, _never_ get involved in Po - James’ love life or his tangled string of girlfriends. For another, last time I heard, you weren’t even going out with him anyway, so what’s it got to do with you?”

Serena snorted. “Don’t play innocent with me! You’ve had him eating out of your hand and following you around since fifth year! You’ve got him wrapped around your little finger, and you know it! You’re practically raising his hopes by spending so much time with him, when all a bitch like you is doing is stopping him from going out with _real_ girls!”

She took a step forward, menacingly, and narrowed her eyes. “You don’t own him.”

“Neither do you,” came a voice from the staircase. Lily and Serena turned, as one, to see James Potter descending, his hair its usual messy self, wearing a crumpled pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, giving him a very much just-got-out-of-bed look.

Serena’s entire persona shifted.

“Jamesie!” she cooed. She took a few paces towards him, swaying her hips provocatively, and practically radiating waves of flattery; Lily had never felt so sickened. “And how are you today?”

“Fine,” James answered shortly. He eyed Serena with great dislike. “What do you want, Parkinson?”

“You already know the answer to that, James. I want _you_.” Her eyes were fixed on his face hungrily.

“Well I’m not interested, Parkinson, and that’s something you obviously didn’t pick up the other five hundred times we’ve had this conversation. See you.” He indicated the portrait hole.

“But Jamesie!” Serena cried.

“Do NOT call me Jamesie. Bye-bye.”

Serena snorted again, angrily, and flounced towards the hole. As she passes Lily, she shot a glare at her and mouthed ‘Bitch.’ Then she was gone.

Lily collapsed back down onto the sofa. To her surprise, James came over, sank down next to her, and sighed.

“What was all that about?” she asked.

“You really want to know?” James yawned.

“Well, seeing as she’s verbally attacking me over something that I know very little about, yes, I do. How much did you overhear, anyway?”

“Enough.”

“So, what’s the story?”

“We went out together in fourth year. I dated her for exactly two days before I found out what a bitch she was, and for a week before I found out that she was cheating on me with some Ravenclaw, so I dumped her. After she got dumped by the other guy and found out that my family is . . . fairly wealthy, she came crawling back. She doesn’t seem to understand that I’m not interested.”

Lily looked at him doubtfully, holding her book against her. “And all this comes from the Master Player of Girls himself?”

James turned round sharply and looked back at her, raising his eyebrows.

“I didn’t know you believed everything you heard.”

“It’s just a rumour, is it?”

“I may have gone out with quite a few girls, but I don’t two-time or cheat. I’m not _that_ dishonest.”

Lily smiled slightly, but James’ brow had contracted as he reached his hands out to the fire and turned away from her again. 

“What are you doing down so early for? I was hoping for at least another hour on my own.”

James slid off the sofa and down on to the rug in front of the dancing flames. “The heating in the boys’ dorm’s gone off. Apparently they forgot to restart the heating charm. The others haven’t woken up yet, but I was cold . . . so here I am.”

“I suppose that’s why Tom and Keegan left so early,” Lily mused. She glanced at the boy leaning casually against the arm of the sofa. “And how exactly do you know so much?”

James grinned mysteriously. ‘I have connections.’ He saw Lily’s expression. “Ok, ok, I know one of the house elves who looks after the dorm. He’s the brother of our house elf, Topsy, and their sister, Tipsy, works in Sirius’ house. Topsy, Tipsy, and Tolly.”

“Sounds like a children’s show.”

“Yeah.”

There was a few moments’ reflective quiet. 

“James?”

He looked up. “Yeah?”

“Would you mind . . . not telling anyone about the Snape thing last night?”

“But -” James protested.

“I’d just rather that no one else knew, other than Emma, I suppose. They’d probably react the way you did, and I don’t want that.”

James regarded her in silence. “Oh, all right,” he said, finally. “My lips are sealed. But Sirius already found out that I had a run-in with Snivellus, though he doesn’t know details.”

“Keep it that way,” Lily said, relieved. She was about to say something else, when footsteps sounded once again on the girls’ stairs, and Emma appeared, looking worried. 

“Lily, Saffy’s woken up. I think she wants to talk.”

Lily got up and followed Emma, giving James a brief wave. 

“Hey, Lily!” James called after her. She turned round, halfway up the stairs. 

“You go the Quidditch matches, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Lily replied, confused.

“Well then you’d better be there for the next one, to watch us whip Slytherin. Next Saturday.”

Lily smiled. “Alright.”

He grinned a farewell at her from his place on the floor, and she continued up, contemplating.

**- &-**

_Give it your all girl, give it all you got,_ _You can take a chance, and take your best shot,_ _I see what you want girl, and what you do,_ _He's never gonna, gonna make it with you._ _You’re pulling petals off a flower trying to get your way,_ _Keep pulling ‘til it says what you want it to say,_ _Girl you can pick a field full of daisies,_ _But he'd still be my baby,_ _I know you can hardly wait 'til I'm away from him,_ _Instinctively, I know what you’re thinking,_ _You'll be giving him an open invitation,_ _But my baby won't be taken in._ _You can pout your cherry lips,_ _Try to tempt him with a sweet kiss,_ _You can flirt your pretty eyes,_ _He ain't got his hands tied._ _No chains to unlock, so free to do what he wants,_ _He's into what he's got,_ _He loves me, he loves you not,_ _No matter what you do, he's never gonna be with you,_ _He's into what he's got,_ _He loves me, he loves you not..._ _You're the kinda girl that's always up for do-or-dare_ _Only want him just because he's there,_ _Always looking for a new ride,_ _The grass is greener on the other side.._ _You're the kinda girl who's not used to hearing no,_ _All your lovers try to take you where you wanna go,_ _Doesn't matter how hard you try,_ _Your never gonna get away with my guy._ _No chains to unlock, so free to do what he wants,_ _He's into what he’s got, (and that's me)_ _He loves me, he loves you not,_ _No matter what you do,_ _He's never gonna be with you,_ _He's into what he's got,_ _He loves me, he loves you not._

**- &-**

Lily’s class had been very much set in its social groupings since first year. Lily and Emma had become friends after being partnered in a particularly disastrous Charms class. James and Sirius had befriended each other on the train to Hogwarts when they had both simultaneously attacked Snape in the corridor, and had soon found Remus to be a worthy ally. Peter had been the one who had flattered his way into their good books, willing to do anything, until he had been accepted. That left Tom Jacobs and Keegan Adams together, and they had become friends as well. As far as the other girls had been concerned, Sapphire Heathleigh, Callie West and Serena Parkinson had once been a single unit, and completely inseparable. Callie and Serena had known each other since babyhood, as their wealthy mothers had moved in the same social circles. Then, in third year, a ‘disagreement’ had arisen between Mrs West and Mrs Parkinson, and cracks had appeared between Callie and Serena, resulting in a fight that had nearly blown the roof of Gryffindor Tower off. The end of it was that Serena had let the group and began to hang out with a group of fourth-years well known for their bitchiness and ‘tarted-up’ view of themselves. As Lily put it to Emma once, in a rare moment of sarcastic humour, ‘they had their heads so far up their own arses that it made it a bit difficult to talk to them.’ All the hate and anger she had was now directed at her own dorm mates with a vengeance, as if despising the fact that she no longer fitted in. What could have caused the sudden break between Callie and Sapphire? Lily wondered.

Dragging Sapphire to Emma’s bed, they shut the door and settled down comfortably. Both girls wanted an explanation of what had been going on last night, and now that Sapphire was ready, and the dormitory conveniently empty, there were no obstacles left. Despite her tears in the toilets, Sapphire remained dry-eyed as she poured out her tale.

“It was probably around when the contest was nearly over. We had both finished out turns on stage, and Callie was looking kind of . . . I don’t know how to describe it. Not right. So I asked her what the matter was, and she turned round and said, ‘You.’ I didn’t really understand her at first . . . so I was just like ‘Huh?’ She started saying stuff about how I was so boring and serious, and I never wanted to have any fun, and that I was a prude . . . because I don’t have a constant line of boyfriends like her. She – she said a lot of other stuff, actually, about how I was poor, and things like that. I’d rather not remember them.’ Sapphire bit her lip. ‘So I said, ‘Why are you saying all this?’ and she said, ‘I have better people to hang around with. Consider our friendship,’ and she pulled off the – the best friend necklaces we got each other in fifth year off her neck, and held it up, ‘broken.’ So she dropped it on the floor and went to Serena’s table to sit down. I tried not to get all . . . emotional, but I felt like – well, such an idiot. So I left. That’s where you found me.’ She looked at Lily, and then sighed pensively. ‘I suppose I should have seen it coming. Callie’s mother sorted things out with Serena’s mother over the holidays, so they were talking to each other a lot more this term, and besides, Callie always seemed so . . . snide. About everything.” She put her head in her hands.

Wordlessly, Emma and Lily looked at each other, and then moved forward to engulf Sapphire in a tight hug.

“Don’t worry about Callie,” Emma reassured her, once they had let go. “I don’t know what’s going on with her, but she had no right to say what she did, especially because _it’s not true_.”

“You can hang with us, we’d love to have someone else to talk to,” Lily added.

Sapphire smiled wanly. “Thanks. Just . . . for being there.”

“Anytime.”

There was silence for a few seconds.

“Are we having a moment? You know, of sympathy and understanding?” Lily questioned.

“Not anymore, you idiot!” Emma groaned. “Speaking of moments, what _were_ you and James talking about downstairs? You two looked very . . . _cosy_.”

“Shut up! Nothing was going on, and if it ever does, you can go get Peeves to chuck a load of Dungbombs on me in person!” Lily threw a pillow at her, and Emma reciprocated. The three of them were just getting into a very enjoyable pillow fight, when a voice echoed up the stairs.

“LILY!”

Abruptly, all the pillows dropped.

“What the -?” said Sapphire, puzzled.

“Is that Sirius?” Lily exclaimed.

It was.

From the top of the stairs, Lily saw Sirius standing at the foot, his hair flopping into his eyes, panting. “Lily, you have to come, McGonagall’s punishing James for something he didn’t do and you’re the only one who can stop it!”

Lily came down halfway and looked at him suspiciously. 

“Come ON!” Reaching up, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her down the stairs, across the Common Room, and out of the Portrait Hole. He was walking fast – Lily had to jog to keep up.

_So much for a restful day after the contest_ , she thought sarcastically as she followed Sirius’ loping gait.

“It’s got something to do with whatever happened last night. James won’t tell her why he used magic on Snape, so McGonagall thinks it’s just because he doesn’t like him, and she’s threatening a month of detentions and to take away his badge!”

“Oh…dammit!” Lily said frantically. “That’s because of me!” She turned on Sirius. “How do you know this much? Were you eavesdropping?”

“Well, duh.” Sirius snorted. “What else did you expect me to do? It’s a good thing I did!”

They reached the Transfiguration classroom. Pausing for a moment to catch her breath, Lily heard James’ voice, defiant. 

“You can take the badge if you want, and I don’t care about points or detentions, but I _can’t_ tell you why. I won’t.”

Lily pushed the door open. Professor McGonagall was seated on the desk, looking infuriated, while James slouched in a chair, his face sullen. He did not look up as she entered.

“Professor, don’t punish him!”

McGonagall turned to her and raised her eyebrows. “I fail to see what this has to do with you, Miss Evans.”

“It’s – not – James’ – fault!” Lily gasped. She clutched her side, trying to ignore the stitch she could feel. “Snape was using magic on me – to hurt me – and James saw what was happening and stopped him. He didn’t do anything unreasonable, I swear! He was just defending both of us!”

“Is this true, Mr Potter?” McGonagall inquired, her eyes back on him. James looked up unwillingly, and nodded.

“Then why did you not see fit to tell me this before?”

James looked at Lily for a moment, his expression unreadable, then back at the teacher. “Lily made me promise not to.”

“Hmm.” Professor McGonagall eyed the two teenagers in silence. “As much as I do not believe you are telling me everything, I shall let this pass and have a talk with Mr Snape. Consider yourself let off with a warning, Potter. And by the way, Professor Dumbledore wishes to see the two of you tonight at seven o’clock. The password is _Ice mice_.”

James got up to go. 

“Oh, and Potter?”

James turned.

“Five points to Gryffindor for doing the right thing.”

James smiled, and followed Lily out. 

“How’d you know I was here?” he asked.

“Sirius told me.” Lily looked round. “He must have gone back to the Common Room – he said he was listening outside.” She stopped for a moment. “Why didn’t you tell her?”

“You asked me not to,” James responded, matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, but still . . . I mean, she was threatening to take your badge!”

“So?” James looked at her straightforwardly. “Lily, I don’t have any idea what you think of me, but you appear to be wrong, so you should get three things straight. I don’t cheat, I don’t lie, and I don’t break promises. Whatever the consequences.” He started walking again, away from her, using much the same long strides that Sirius had. 

Lily looked after him for a minute, and then hurried forward to catch up with him. “Well, thank you. And I’m sorry,” she said awkwardly.

James shook his head. “S’alright.”

Lily looked at her watch. “Shall we go join the others for breakfast?”

“Of course,” James said, and laughing for no particular reason, they headed for the Great Hall. Halfway through eating, however, Emma, who was sitting next to her, prodded her in the side and leaned over.

“Lils, I need to talk to you!” she whispered.

**- &-&-&-**

**A/N:** Chapter nine redone and dusted! Yay! And I don’t know how well the song works, but I found it, thought it suited, and I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether it applies...Now, how about a review? 


	10. Dangerous Ideas

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

**A/N: Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews – it’s nice to know I haven’t been forgotten!**

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

** Chapter 10: Dangerous Ideas **

Despite Emma's words, Lily found that she was not able to talk to her for almost three days, due to the sufficient number of distractions that seemed to crop up. The first was that of the meeting with Dumbledore. Lily had hoped to be congratulated by the Headmaster on the success of the Halloween contest, but she had not expected to have any such formal meeting, and neither did she expect what was to follow.

Having asked directions to the Headmaster's office of Sirius (who answered with so much confidence that he must have been there a few times at _least_ ), she spoke the password and the gargoyle sprang aside to reveal a moving staircase. Amazed at the resemblance that this bore to Muggle escalators, Lily stepped on and allowed herself to be carried up. She knocked at the door cautiously, and walked in.

Dumbledore was seated at his desk, in the centre of a circular room. A fire burned cheerfully in the fireplace, and curious instruments were dotted all over shelves. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily caught a flash of gold; on closer inspection it proved to be a golden phoenix, dozing peacefully on a wooden perch. 

“Do sit down, Miss Evans,” Dumbledore said pleasantly. She took a seat in a comfortable armchair, and it was only then that she noticed James next to her, grinning at her. Professor Dumbledore was ferreting around in a tin. “Sherbet lemon?” he asked, proffering it. James looked at the bright yellow sweet rather dubiously, but Lily took one with an exclamation of delight. 

“I haven't had one of these since I was little!”

“Ah, one of the innumerable delights of childhood that is forgotten as we grow.” Dumbledore smiled. “Now, the first thing I must do is offer you my congratulations for last night's festivities. From what I understand, it was a roaring success, and I look forward very much to seeing what else you two will be able to accomplish together.”

“I would also like to introduce you to the reward you have earned. Your ability to handle the responsibility maturely, and deal with organisation co-operatively,” here Lily shot a guilty glance at James, remembering the way she had acted in the Hall that morning, “has shown that you deserve to be given this. Please follow me.”

He stood up and led them out of the office, down several corridors, until he stopped in front of a seemingly blank wall.

“For your information, Gryffindor Tower is that way,” he gestured down the corridor, “and you should recognise the route here soon enough. Now . . .”

It was when he turned to face the wall that Lily realised that it was not, in fact, as empty as she had originally thought. Just above their heads hung a pair of masks, and Lily recognised the traditional Shakespearian expressions of comedy and tragedy.

“This can often be the difficult part,” Dumbledore told them. He reached up and grasped the nose of the tragedy mask. To Lily's shock, the mask did not appear to be made out of metal after all, but a rubbery material which squashed down, like a human nose. For a moment, the mask's cheeks puffed out and the eyes scrunched up, as if trying to hold its breath, and then, with a loud gasp, it expelled what Lily could only assume was air.

“Alright,” it said mournfully. “You've got my attention. Password?”

“ _Waddiwasi_ ,” Dumbledore said. The bricks beneath the mask began to wriggle about, some stretching and some shrinking, until they had formed the outline of a stone door. Dumbledore pushed lightly, and the door swung open. The three of them stepped in.

Lily's immediate impression was of warmth and cosiness. Like Dumbledore's office, this too had a warm fire blazing in the stone fireplace, with a soft rug in front. There were two desks in opposite corners, and two sofas facing each other around the fire. As well as this, there were several large cushions lying on the floor and, and a bookcase at the back. Lamps stood everywhere, giving a soft light to the room, and hangings, depicting what looked like legends, were dotted around the walls.

“Nice, is it not?” Dumbledore said cheerfully. “This is the Heads' Common Room.”

“Cool,” James said. He had walked over the fire and was apparently trying to test the give of the sofa by flinging himself onto it.

“You may use this for your meetings, as of now, and also if you feel that you need some peace.” Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. “I know that some of the inmates of the Common Room can be rather noisy.' He took out two small silver keys. 'These are for your own rooms.” For the first time, Lily noticed the two doors at the back of the room. On one door, in curly silver letters, was written _Lily Evans_ , and on the other, _James Potter_.

“Are we supposed to _sleep_ here?” James asked, shocked.

“Good grief, no. We prefer that you sleep in the Tower, where there are others nearby. No, these are your personal rooms. Should you wish to store anything here, or use it for a specific purpose, you may do so.” There was a hint of a smile on his face. “That does not include wild parties, in case you were wondering. However, you may bring friends here, as long as you inform Professor McGonagall or myself of who it is and when, beforehand. We will then judge if it is appropriate. Be warned, we shall know what is going on.” He smiled at them. “I shall leave you now, to explore. Goodnight.” He let himself out, and Lily heard his feet tapping down the corridor. Lily and James remained, at opposite ends of the room, looking silently around. Feeling suddenly tired, Lily sank onto a large cushion.

_Oh God_ , she thought. _This Head Rooms stuff is going to be harder than I thought._

**- &-**

Another, more pleasant distraction over the next few days, was Sapphire. Emma and Lily did their level best to integrate her into their friendship and shield her from Callie's vicious remarks, and this meant a lot of time spent having long girly chats and getting to lessons early to find seats together. Within those hours that they enjoyed together, Lily began to wonder how any of the comments Callie had made could be true. Admittedly, Sapphire was a half-blood - her mother was a witch, her father a Muggle - and her family was not terribly well off. However, she was funny, and very mischievous, and with her sparkling eyes and glossy hair, Lily failed to see how any boy could ignore her for long. It seemed a little like she was a missing piece to their friendship; a piece that completed the puzzle.

Sapphire's one problem lay with none other than . . . Sirius. Although he had been fairly polite to her the day after the contest, in view of the night before, it soon became clear that he had no intention of giving her an easy ride. What with all the time that Emma spent with Remus, and the occasions that Lily had to discuss Head business with James, a fair proportion of time was consumed where they were at least in the vicinity of the Marauders; and Sirius took full advantage. Within three days, he had tripped Sapphire up eighteen times (Emma had kept count), and twelve of those times, her books had also gone flying. He also managed to knock two bottles of her ink over, sprinkle paper into her hair and accidentally-on-purpose knock a jug of pumpkin juice all over her dinner. 

Coupled with all this were the insults, and the teasing that he seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply of.

“Heathleigh! You intending to go meet Heath _cliff_ later, by any chance?” ***

“Saffy? Doesn't that sound like Daffy? Are you sure your name isn't Daffodil, or something just as hippy as your real name?”

“So, do you have to mine for sapphires, or do you just find them that dirty naturally?”

Pathetic as these were, Lily and Emma had no explanation for why he had suddenly begun to pick on her after six years of knowing who she was. Despite the fact that Lily's idea of giving him a good kick up the backside was tempting, Sapphire decided to settle for Emma's suggestion of just ignoring him, and taking it in stride. With her easygoing temperament, it did not take too long for this to become a regular pattern, although she still felt hurt when he purposely dug at her.

**- &-**

One morning that week, the three girls came down to breakfast to find the Hall buzzing with excitement. 

“What's going on?” Emma asked, as they slid into their seats. Remus, who was sitting a few spaces away with the rest of the Marauders, answered.

“They're announcing the finalists from the contest after breakfast.”

“Oh, cool!” Lily said excitedly.

“How does it work?” Sapphire asked with interest.

“Basically, there'll be a boy and a girl from each year from each house, and they'll be up against the others in their year for the prize. We didn't think it would be fair to pit first-years against seventh-years.”

“Correction,” James called down the table from where he was sitting. “ _You_ didn't think it would be fair. I was perfectly fine with the idea.”

Lily gave him an exasperated but amused look, and threw her hands up in defeat. “Okay, fine, _I_ didn't think it was fair. Happy?”

“Of course.” James gave her a cheeky grin. “Misrepresentation of facts is a serious crime, and I, for one, am glad I could put this instance right.”

“Ooh, Jamesie knows a big word!” Sirius mocked, through a mouthful of bacon. James hit him on the back, and he promptly choked.

Soon enough, as plates began to clear, Daniel Jordan, who seemed to be an unofficial announcer as well as commentator, came up to the front and performed an amplifying spell on himself.

“Gooooooooood Mornin', Hogwarts!” his voice boomed, several times louder than usual. 

Several students, including Sirius, yelled 'Morning!' back at him.

“I have here the results of the Halloween fancy dress contest. If you're a finalist, just sit tight, and instructions will come your way in a few days. But anyway, since dear old Professor Minniekins is now giving me a dirty look, “ McGonagall was indeed glaring at him, “I should get on. So . . . in the first year, Gryffindor finalists will be Rose Johnson and Thomas Brown!” Two shocked squeaks came from the end of the table. “In Slytherin, we have Dylan Grimp and Jakarta Herpes! Ravenclaw: Amy Marione and Tim Tucker . . .” He carried on, despite the gasps that emerged as he named he finalists. Eventually, he reached the sixth years, and Lily began to pay a little more attention. “ . . . and Gryffindor, Gemma Nicholson and Jack Stevens! And finally, in seventh year, we have: Ravenclaw: Rosaline Wood and Edward Monhagen! Slytherin: Bellatrix Black and Lucius Malfoy! Hufflepuff: Dominic Ashton and Hilary Darthrite! Gryffindor: Sirius Black and Sapphire Heathleigh! Congratulations to all of you!”

Lily turned to Sapphire, whose face wore a completely shocked expression. “Well done, Saffy!”

“I . . . don't believe it,” Sapphire murmured, as Emma hugged her. “This is not happening.”

“Yes it is!” Lily shook her. Slowly, a smile tugged at Saphhire's lips.

“I can't believe I got in!”

“Well, you did, and we're proud of ya!” Lily said. She saw Emma's pained expression and grimaced. “I'm never trying an American accent again.”

Sapphire looked up the table, where Sirius too was being patted on the back. Beyond him, Callie and Serena were looking more than slightly annoyed, but then her attention was caught by what Sirius was saying.

“Well, yeah, I was hoping that one of us four would win through, but really,” he added, raising his eyebrows, “don't you think that there were better costumes around than some Earth woman in an eyesore dress?”

Knowing perfectly well that he had meant her to hear, Sapphire bit her lip and looked down, allowing her hair to swing forward. Moodily, she stabbed at a sausage, imagining it to be Sirius' head.

**- &-**

It was finally that day, that Emma had a chance to talk to Lily about what she had wanted to say. After dinner, she dragged Sapphire and Lily to the dormitory, ignoring their protests about homework, and pushed them both unceremoniously down in the empty room. 

“Okay Em, what's this about?”

Emma twisted her hands. “Do you remember that potion we studied in second year? The really complicated one, that transformed you into other people?”

Lily wrinkled her nose, trying to remember. “The . . . Polyjuice Potion?” she asked at last.

“Yeah.” Emma nodded. “Well, - look, don't freak out or anything, but . . . I've made it.”

It took a few moments for this to sink in. Even then, Sapphire still looked slightly confused, while Lily's mouth had dropped open. “You _what_?”

“I made - well, I'm making the potion. It's nearly finished. Look, please stay calm,” Emma begged.

“Excuse me?” Lily hissed. “You're making an illegal potion god-knows-where using god-knows-what that you must have stolen from Professor Singrey, since you can't get those ingredients anywhere else, and you tell me to _stay calm?_ ”

'I had my reasons,' Emma said defensively. 'Look, Lil, please stay quiet, I don't want anyone hearing.'

Lily opened her mouth to say something, but Sapphire cut her off. She was frowning.

'Emma, you do realise that if you're caught, you'll be risking suspension.”

“I _said_ , I had my reasons.” Emma looked nettled.

“Ok then,” Sapphire said quietly. “What were these reasons? And where did you get the recipe?”

“And why didn't you tell us before?” demanded Lily.

“I got the recipe out of a book in the Restricted Section - _Moste Potente Potions_ , I think it was called; Madam Pince was a bit iffy about me taking it out, even though I showed her proof that I did Defence Against the Dark Arts. I didn't tell you before because . . . it didn't seem like the right time.” Emma paused. “As for my reasons . . . When I first started the potion, about three and a half weeks ago, I wanted to find out if Remus liked me. Now, I think . . . I think I just want to know if I can trust him.”

Lily still couldn't believe her ears. “Newsflash, Em! If you want to know that, you go ask him! You don't do deceitful stuff like this!”

“Lily, you know what I mean.” Emma's tone was pleading, but she was right; Lily did know. Emma had had a wonderful relationship with her father, whom she had adored, until he had walked out of her life, taking one of her younger sisters, when she was ten. She had never forgiven him for leaving the family in ruins, and had problems when it came to trusting the opposite sex, even after seven years. It was reminiscent of a Muggle soap opera, but true.

“The point is, Lily, I need your help. And I don't mean by pouring the potion down the drain.”

“How?” Lily snorted. “You want me to transform into someone else and do a little interrogation?”

“Uh . . . yes?”

There was a short silence as Lily mentally replayed Emma's answer in her head, checking that she was not hearing things.

“ _WHAT?_ ”

“Please Lily,” Emma begged imploringly. “I would have done it, but I can't now - I'd give myself away. I need you to.”

“Absolutely not.”

'Lily, I'm serious. This is the one time I really need your help. Otherwise I'll spend the rest of my life being paranoid about it.”

“Even if I could, who'd you expect me to change into? Sirius?” Lily's tone bordered on scathing.

“No,” said Emma thoughtfully. 'He's Remus' best friend. He would notice straight away that something was wrong. I was thinking someone more like . . . Keegan Adams.”

“What have you been doing, planning this?”

“Yep.”

“I still say no.”

“ _Please_ , Lils?”

Lily rounded on Sapphire. “What do you think?”

“I don't know that this is the most sensible decision . . . but I don't know the full story, so I can't really say.” Sapphire eyed them both doubtfully.

Emma looked back at Lily, her eyes wide and pleading. Against her better judgement, Lily gave in.

“I still don't agree with this, but for your sake, I'll do it.”

“Oh, thank you Lily! I swear, I'll take the blame, if anything happens.”

“You'd better,” Lily said grumpily, but it was lost on Emma, who was beaming happily up at the ceiling.

“It'll be ready soon, I'll tell you when.”

Lily curled up on the bed, feeling a sudden tension rise. 

The outcome of this would not be good.

**- &-&-&-**

**A/N:** Reviews, anyone? 


	11. Quidditch, Anyone?

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?)

**A/N: Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews – it’s nice to know I haven’t been forgotten!**

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

Chapter 11: Quidditch, Anyone?

_Dear_ Miss Heathleigh,

_We congratulate you on becoming a_ Gryffindor _finalist in your year in the Halloween fancy dress contest. The final competition will be held during the Christmas Ball, in late December. The same rules will apply as to the previous contest, but you may not use the same costume – a new one_ must _be put together. You will spend the first half of the ball in your costume, in order for the judging to take place, and may then change into appropriate clothing for the dance afterwards. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to come to us. We hope you will have fun!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_James Potter and Lily Evans_

_Head Boy and Girl_

_P.S. Go get ‘em Saffy. And feel free to give me details on what you’re wearing when you decide!_

_Love,_

_Lily ;-D_

_Lily! You weren’t meant to write personal messages on these! Otherwise I could have written a nice,_ polite _one to Malfoy – oh crap, I’ve done it now as well. Sorry Sapphire. Congratulations, anyway. (Lily, I’m going to kill you!)_

**- &-**

_Dear Mum,_

_I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to write back to you. I’ve been studying a lot, so it’s been difficult to squeeze in time._

_I’m a horrible liar, aren’t I?_

_You want the truth? A lot’s been going on lately. It’s kind of been like an emotional rollercoaster. I know, I know, you’re going to tell me that I should concentrate on my schoolwork more. NEWTs won’t be easy, blah blah blah. I_ am _studying. It’s just that this has all been going on the. . . sidelines, so to speak._

_I guess I’d better start at the beginning, so that you’ll understand. Callie broke up with me. Messily. In the middle of the Halloween contest. She went off to sit with Serena afterwards (I should have seen that coming), and I ended up crying like a baby in the toilets. Mind you, it wasn’t totally terrible. Lily Evans (you know, that nice girl you talked to on the platform last year) found me, and now, I think I have new best friends – her and Emma. I honestly can’t believe that I missed out on what great people they were for such a long time. I always thought they were really studious and boring, even though I suppose Lily can be quite a hit with the boys – she looks a bit like a Christmas decoration, in a nice way, with her red hair and green eyes. Emma’s a bit more . . . cynical, but she’s fun too. I feel a lot happier than I have in a long time, and Callie can just go throw herself off a cliff for all I care. I really don’t want to remember all the things that she said to me that night._

_In other news, your idea for me going as a Dryad was great, Mum. I’m a finalist in my year in the contest, and the dress was_ perfect _. All I had to do was go out and nick a few leaves and flowers from the grounds. I have to find a new costume now, since you’re not meant to wear the same one for the finals. Any other brilliant ideas?_

_So, I suppose that at this very moment, my life is pretty good. Wait a moment. I would highly suggest that you hide this part from Dad._

_Done?_

_Good._

_I have a minor problem with a boy. Not_ that _kind of problem, Mum, and no, don’t worry, you won’t get any grandkids off me yet! There’s this boy in my year, Sirius Black, who won’t stop picking on me. It’s weird, because he’s obviously known I existed for the last six years, but it’s like he’s only just noticed me. It’s not bullying, either, it’s just this continual teasing. I suppose I’d better confess that I did have a tiny, TINY crush on him in fifth year, but now I think he’s just a pig-headed prat. Lily said I should give him a good kick up the- well, a good kick, but I’m just trying to ignore him at the moment, as per Emma’s advice. It’s hard though. There are times when I’d just love to punch his smug face. The reason I’m telling you is because from what you used to tell me, I think Dad might have been a bit like this when he first moved into the neighbourhood and started hanging out with you and your friends in the holidays, so I wanted to know what you did to shut him up (please say it involved slapping him round the face!) Have no fear, though; there is VERY little chance that I would EVER like Sirius, considering how much I despise him at this point in time, so I won’t be changing my name to Sapphire Black any time soon. Ugh. The thought makes my skin crawl._

_Anyway, Emma’s calling me, we have to go to dinner, so I’ll stop here before this gets too heavy for Andromeda to carry. Hope you and Dad are well (Tell him to lay off the cigarettes,_ please _.)_

_Lots of love,_

_Saffy_

_xxx_

_P.S. If Dad come storming up to the school ready to beat up any boy that so much as looks at me, then I’ll_ KNOW _you let him read this, and I will_ never write another letter to you again!

**- &-&-&-**

That Saturday was Gryffindor’s first Quidditch match of the season, against Slytherin. According to the resident Quidditch fanatics, Gryffindor was already in with a good chance, as long as they scored over than one hundred and fifty points, because Ravenclaw had defeated Slytherin by two hundred and fifty points in their first match. The tension in the air was palpable as Lily woke up. All around her, red clothing was lying on the floor and beds, shows of support for the House. When Emma, Lily and Saffy entered the Great Hall, scarves wrapped firmly round their necks in anticipation of the weather, the first thing noticeable was the Quidditch team, sitting at one end of the table, looking pale and talking quietly. Soon enough, they broke away from the group, leaving the Marauders on their own. James in particular, looked like he had not slept all night, and was not making the slightest effort to bother with eating, despite the fact that his fellow Chaser, Sirius, was piling his plate with sausages and bacon.

After breakfast, the school began to filter out and go down to the Quidditch pitch. Daniel Jordan climbed up into the commentator’s box, closely followed by Professor McGonagall, who looked fully intent on monitoring every word he said. 

“Welcome to the second match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin! On the Slytherin team, I give you: Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Lestrange, Avery, Rosier, and the captain . . . Malfoy!” Seven green-robed figures walked out onto the pitch, clutching broomsticks. Lily caught a glimpse of Lucius Malfoy’s smug face smirking into the crowd, every blond hair in perfect place.

“And now, the team who will be winning the Cup this year, (“JORDAN!”) Sorry Minnie (“JORDAN, DO YOU INTEND TO CONTINUE COMMENTATING THIS YEAR?”) Sorry, _Professor_ , sorry. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, GRYFFINDOR! I give you: Jacobs, Black, Stevens, Lawrence, Nicholson, Andrews and their captain . . . Potter!”

Unlike the Slytherins, the Gryffindor team looked tense. James’ face was grim and set as he faced Malfoy, while his hair and robes blew wildly in the wind. 

“Captains, shake hands,” Madam Hooch called out. “Mount your brooms. Three – two – one.” She blew her whistle, and fourteen brooms rose into the air.

The match was fast and exciting, and Gryffindor took an early lead. Lily watched the green and red blurs race around the pitch with more interest than usual, for reasons she could not seem to explain to herself. Beside her, Sapphire whooped and cheered every time Gryffindor scored, and even Lily could see how hard the team had practiced. The Chasers worked well together, passing seamlessly to each other and almost seeming to read each other’s thoughts. Gemma Nicholson and Jack Stevens, the two Beaters, were also doing a good job, forcing the Slytherins to dive randomly all over the pitch in an effort to avoid their Bludgers. Moira, the Seeker, was darting around in the air, high above everyone else, obviously looking for the Snitch. As he circled past, Lily sighted James’ face. His eyes were narrowed in focus, his whole expression centred in concentration on the Quaffle as he soared past, shouting an instruction at Sirius. She had to admire his prowess on the broom; he seemed completely at home in the air, managing to both dive and rise fifty metres in the space of about twenty seconds.

Sapphire’s excitement was infectious; Lily had never known that she was such an avid Quidditch supporter. Both Remus and Lily found themselves joining in with her cheers as the scores mounted. Gryffindor were leading 160 to 90 – if Moira caught the Snitch now, the game would be theirs. No one even noticed when Emma slipped away, halfway through.

“And Jacobs passes to Black, who passes to Potter, back to Jacobs – ooh, he drops it, and the Quaffle is caught by Nott, damn you (‘JORDAN!’) sorry Professor, who passes to Lestrange, who – nicely intercepted by that Bludger, hit by Nicholson.”

Suddenly, a gasp went round the stands, and everyone collectively craned their necks to squint up into the sky. 

Moira and Avery, the Slytherin Seeker, were rising sharply up, at an almost ninety-degree angle, both their hands outstretched towards the tiny gold ball that fluttered innocently above. It looked as though Avery was going to make it first. He knocked Moira’s hand out of the way, the crowd held its breath, and . . .

“COME ON, MOIRA!” Sapphire screamed.

Gemma Nicholson, at the last moment, swung her bat at the nearest Bludger, which raced towards Avery at such an angle that he was forced to rise sharply above Moira. A look of ecstatic greed spread over his face as he was moved even closer to the Snitch, and his hand began to close . . .

. . . just as the Snitch, moving sideways to evade his hand, flew straight into Moira’s.

The Gryffindor stands exploded.

Sapphire was screaming herself hoarse and jumping up and down, as were many others, while Remus and Peter hi-fived each other in delight. Lily felt herself smiling widely as the Gryffindor team reached the ground.

“AND GRYFFINDOR WINS, 300 POINTS TO 90! CONGRATULATIONS TO CAPTAIN POTTER AND HIS TEAM; THEY’VE JUST GOT INTO FIRST PLACE RUNNING FOR THE QUIDDITCH CUP . . .!”

As the team moved together to congratulate each other, Lily laughed out loud to see Sirius’ ecstatic expression, which he was directing at the Slytherins, whose faces looked like thunder. She could just about work out what he was saying.

“Haha! Take that, you smug bastards! Not so tough now, are you?”

Beside him, James launched himself at Moira and hugged her tightly. Shorter than him by about a head and a half, she was almost engulfed by him. He released her, and looked up at the crowds, grinning, his robes sweaty and his hair even messier than it had begun. His eyes met Lily’s for an instant, and she read the intense, fierce joy in his hazel eyes as he looked at her, which shook her, for some profoundly inexplicable reason, to the bone. The moment passed, and he was distracted as Sirius bounded up to slap him on the back, talking cheerfully. Pulling herself out of her daze, Lily and Saffy began to make their way out of the stands. Suddenly, Lily turned round.

“Where’s Emma?”

Sapphire looked behind her, then shrugged. They continued past the hordes of cheering (or scowling) pupils. 

Lily did not have to wait long for her question to be answered. As they made their way towards the castle, Emma appeared beside them, looking excited, but apprehensive.

“Where were -” Lily began, but Emma interrupted her hurriedly, her face pale.

“It’s ready, Lily. The potion’s ready.”

**- &-&-&-&-&-**

**A/N:** Okay, so this was a bit of a short chapter, but it was necessary! Anyway, reviews always make me feel like updating faster (hint hint hint)! 


	12. Polyjuice Potion

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?) Kudos to JKR, since I copied some bits out of CoS for authenticity in this chapter.

**A/N: Thank you guys all SO MUCH for your reviews – it’s nice to know I haven’t been forgotten!**

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

** Chapter 12: The Polyjuice Potion **

At ten o’clock that night, the party was still raging in the Gryffindor common room, and showed no signs of abating (at least, until McGonagall herself showed up). Bottles of Butterbeer and various snacks had mysteriously appeared on the table, and people helped themselves liberally as they celebrated their Quidditch victory. The only people who did not look as though they were thoroughly enjoying themselves were three girls clustered in a corner. Although they all had drinks in their hands, in an attempt to look festive, their faces were working against them, as they went through the circular conversation that they had had many times before in the course of the evening.

“Look, I can keep the potion going until tomorrow, it’ll stay ‘til then. I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it tonight. Everyone’s too hyped up.”

“What am I supposed to do again?” Lily questioned. Emma sighed. 

“I’m going to distract Keegan and Tom – I’ll ask them to go on a run with me, or something. All you have to do is take the potion, go up to their dorm, and start up a casual conversation, but work in a few questions as well. You’ll have an hour to do that, then just come down again.”

“Oh, is that _all_?” Lily said sarcastically. “What if Remus finds out where you are?”

“Good point.” Emma frowned. “I’d suppose I should tell him that I’ll be going for a run with them.” She got up and made her way over to Remus, where he stood with his friends. Lily watched as she began talking and gesturing, until her gaze drifted sideways to the others. James and Sirius, James especially, had been receiving a lot of compliments for the match, but while Sirius bowed and smiled, James threw everything onto Moira’s skill with such sincerity, that Lily wondered why his normally gigantic ego seemed to be so flat.

“Lily?” Sapphire was leaning forward, her eyebrows furrowed. “I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

Lily shrugged, trying to make her tone sound light. “It’s too late, anyway. The potion’s ready.”

“Yeah, but I have a really bad feeling about this. We’re going to come out of this badly.”

Lily curled up on her chair, her green eyes reflecting the dancing light of the fire opposite. “Good or bad, there’s nothing I can do now.”

*~*~*~*~*~*

The first thing Lily knew the next day was a persistent shaking. She opened her eyes to see Emma’s face.

“Whassa matter?” she grumbled, turning over.

“Come on, you have to take the potion.” Lily sat bolt upright, sleep falling away like her blankets. Sapphire was already sitting up on her bed, dressed and watching her nervously. After going to the bathroom, she came back and started pulling jeans on. 

“You know, you can’t really be Keegan if you’re going to walk around in girls’ clothes,” Sapphire pointed out helpfully. 

“I have a pair of trousers and a jumper here.” Emma held up a bag. “I sneaked them out of the laundry yesterday. Besides,” she added critically, eyeing Lily, “you’re going to need something to change back into afterwards. Come on.”

The three girls hurried silently down corridors, following Emma, who led them straight into . . . a girls’ bathroom.

“Em, you didn’t make it in Moaning Myrtle’s place!” Lily gasped. She coughed, and waved her hand futilely at the thick black smoke.

“Well no one ever comes here, so it seemed like a safe bet,” Emma said. She opened a cubicle door, and Lily caught a glimpse of a black cauldron bubbling on a toilet inside. She averted her eyes and looked instead at Sapphire, who seemed more and more apprehensive each minute. Soon Emma came back out with a glass of what looked like thick mud.

“Here,” she said, handing it to Lily. “Hold.” She fished in her pocket, and came up with a bottle containing three blond-brown hairs. Taking them out, she gave them to Lily, who dropped them in. The potion hissed and bubbled, before turning a deep cerulean blue. Feeling only slightly less nauseous, Lily gave Emma and Sapphire another glance, and then, holding her nose, drank the potion down quickly. 

She did not have time to register the taste before her stomach began to writhe . . . she heard Emma and Sapphire’s horrified gasps as she dropped to all fours and her skin began to bubble like hot wax, reshaping itself into a boy’s body. Her jumper came loose at the front, as did her bra, as her chest receded, and she felt the weight of her hair disappearing from her shoulders, as her skin grew tanned. Suddenly it all stopped, and Lily got up gingerly, taking a ragged breath.

Emma and Sapphire were staring at her in shocked amazement.

“Give me the clothes,” Lily said, and the voice that came out was not hers, but a smooth low voice. Keegan’s. Mutely, Emma handed over the bag, and she stepped into a cubicle to change. She came out again and gave Emma a half-grin.

“Well, at least I know that the hairs weren’t from Malfoy now,” she joked awkwardly. 

Sapphire’s mouth was still hanging open.

Crossing over to a cracked mirror, Lily examined her – or rather, Keegan’s, face; the face of a boy she had known for six years. She ran a hand through the short blond-brown hair, and over the tanned skin. Her nails were no longer long and feminine, but short and blunt. She turned round.

“You know, you could have got me some shoes.”

Emma seemed to pull herself together. “Doesn’t matter. Come on, we have to go.” The three of them took a quick route back to the tower.

“Don’t walk like that.”

Lily looked back at Sapphire. “Huh?”

“Don’t sort of . . . sway your hips. You’re not a girl any more. And it wouldn’t hurt to swing your arms a bit, either.” 

“Like this?”

“Yeah, that’ll do.”

In a corridor near the Fat Lady, Emma stopped and pushed the other two into a shady alcove, behind a suit of armour, and shoved Lily’s clothes at Sapphire.

“Right, you two stay here. I’m going to go meet the boys. Once you hear us go past, go straight to the Tower and do your stuff. Saffy, you’d better wait downstairs. About five minutes before your hour’s up, come down, meet up, and go back to the toilets to change. I’ll meet you, as soon as I can.”

Lily gave her a nod, and Emma walked off down the corridor. There was an uncomfortable silence, until Sapphire began to laugh quietly.

“Imagine if anyone found us here!” she gasped, clutching her side. “It would be all over the school: ‘Heathleigh and Adams caught snogging’, but Keegan wouldn’t even know what had happened!”

Lily began to laugh too, but quickly sobered up as she heard footsteps. Presently, Emma’s voice could be heard.

“ . . . So where do you usually run? I mean, this place is full of ways, but still, you must have a route you like . . .” She continued to talk aimlessly, but both hidden girls (or boy) felt her gaze sweep over them as they walked on. As soon as the voices had faded, Lily squeezed out. Ten of her precious sixty minutes had already gone.

“See you then,” she said, and walking quickly, she entered the tower and headed up the boys’ stairs, trying hard to look as though everything was normal.

The boys’ corridor looked much like the girls’. Lily headed towards the last door, which had _Seventh-years_ on it in curly writing, took a deep breath, and walked in.

“Keegan!” said a voice in surprise.

At first Lily did not reply, too busy taking in the dormitory. The basic decoration and arrangement did not differ much from her own room. It was simply the boyish differences; aftershaves and colognes lying where make-up would normally be, a general . . . mess on the floor instead of the odd bra or _Witch Weekly_ magazine dropped carelessly, and the many posters of Quidditch teams on the wall. Remus was sitting on his bed, sorting through a stack of parchment, and Sirius appeared to be searching for something under his bed. Peter was reading a book in the corner.

“I thought you’d gone for a run with Tom and Emma?”

“Yeah, well, uhm . . .” Lily looked at her feet and tried desperately to come up with something. “We were, uh, running, and my trainer came off, so I, uh, tripped, and my . . . ankle hurts. Yeah, really painful.” She sat down on the nearest bed, praying it was Keegan’s.

“Oh,” Remus said, his attention back on the parchment.

Relieved that he wasn’t more curious, Lily bent down and pretended to rub her ankle. She was feeling distinctly ill at ease.

Just then, the door banged open, and James barged in. looking fresh and clean, his hair wet. “Padfoot, the bathroom’s yours.” He turned round and saw Lily. “Uh, Keegan? Why’re you sitting on my bed?”

_Oh damn_. She got up hurriedly. “Sorry, I just sat down anywhere.” Frantically, she looked round, and thankfully spotted a photo of what looked like Keegan’s family on a dresser. She moved over, trying hard to fake a slight limp, and began to rub her ankle again, nervously.

“Why aren’t you out running with Tom, anyway?” James called, towelling his hair. Lily repeated her story as sincerely as she could make herself sound. James turned to her and raised an eyebrow as he dried his hair. “How did you manage to fall over and do all that when you only left ten minutes ago?”

“I fell over just outside, I didn’t do my trainer up properly,” Lily lied. She shifted uncomfortably as James gave her a strange look, and turned to Sirius again. 

“OI, PADFOOT, BATHROOM’S FREE!” he yelled. Sirius emerged, grinning triumphantly and looking like he had just aged forty years – his head was covered in dust.

“Found it!” he proclaimed, holding a dusty green sock up. “Sorry James darling, did you call?”

James rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Forget it.”

Remus looked up. “You know, Prongs, you should really tidy your bit up.”

James surveyed the mess around him and groaned. “But it’s a Sunday!”

“All the more reason to do it,” Remus replied calmly.

Grumbling, James began to pick up the random pieces of underwear on the carpet.

“Remmie dear, do stop taking lessons from Emma. You’re not our mother now, are you?” Sirius chided teasingly.

“Speaking of Emma, aren’t you worried about the fact that she’s out with Tom?” Peter asked slyly.

“No,” Remus said simply. “I trust her.”

Lily saw her opportunity. “So, you really like her, huh?” she asked casually.

“Yeah,” Remus said quietly. “She’s special.”

Lily fought to control the girlish squeal of delight that threatened to erupt; she doubted it would be taken very well. Instead, she nodded impassively, and bent down to her ankle again.

“Speaking of girls, Wormtail, who were _you_ dreaming about?” Sirius smirked. Peter went red.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh yes you do. I saw you changing your sheets in the middle of the night! You had a . . . _wet dream!_ ” Sirius’ voice became hushed, but his grin grew even wider as Peter turned purple and sputtered like a firework. Lily felt slightly ill as she realised what they were talking about. _Oh my god_ , she thought faintly, as she attempted to smile weakly at Sirius’ crude jokes. _I’ve been scarred for life._

After getting more and more agitated, Peter finally thought of a comeback. “I’m not the one who dreams about a certain red-head every night!” he squeaked. 

The grin began to fade from James’ face.

“Why don’t you tell us about these dreams of yours, Jamesie?” Sirius rounded on him.

“I’ve heard him saying her name in his sleep,” Peter said breathlessly. “All the time.”

Even Remus was looking up in interest now.

Sirius looked like he was having the time of his life. “So what exactly goes on in this ‘working relationship’ between you two that provides such interesting material for dreams?”

_Oh god. Please, please don’t let them be talking about . . ._

James turned abruptly away and bent down to his bed, but not before Lily had seen his flushed cheeks. “Lily and I are just friends.”

_Woah. Hold up a minute there. Has the world stopped turning? James doesn’t have a crush on me anymore?_

_YES!_

“Hmm . . .” Sirius said mockingly.

“At least I don’t bloody bully girls, like you!”

“Who, Sapphire?” Sirius looked innocent. “She’s just . . . she has a lovely reaction to it, that’s all.” He grabbed his bathrobe hastily. “I should go shower.” The door swung shut behind him as he walked out.

Remus raised his eyebrows. “There’s something not right about that. . .”

“Nah, he just hates her so much that he doesn’t want to talk about her,” James said off-handedly. The conversation switched to more everyday topics, including a heated discussion of Quidditch between James and Peter. Far from feeling happier about the change of subject, Lily began to feel more and more uncomfortable, as though she was she was intruding on their privacy. The feeling intensified and weighed more and more on her conscience as she thought about it. Even if they could be immature prats at times, wasn’t it a bit . . . immoral to be listening to all their secrets like this?

_How could I have agreed to this?_ she thought in shock, completely oblivious to the others. _I’m worse than they could ever be!_

“Hey, Keegan, you ok?” James asked, breaking into her train of thought. “You’re not usually this quiet, especially when we’re discussing the Kenmare Kestrels!”

“Yeah. Whatever.” Lily looked blankly at her watch. Time to go. “I’m gonna . . . go get food. See you guys later.” She walked out as quickly as she could manage. Clomping down the stairs, she met Sapphire in the common room and the two of them headed down to the toilets, Lily’s anger growing with every step.

Five minutes later, Lily emerged from the toilet looking like herself again, complete with suitable clothes. The transformation had gone without a hitch; but Sapphire was not blind to the look on her friend’s face.

“Come on,” she barked at Sapphire. “We have to go . . . _discuss_ things with Emma.” She swept off down the corridor, her rage burning a trail of fire through her mind, and almost slammed into someone – Tom, who was coming down in the opposite direction. Not even bothering to say sorry, she stormed down various passages until she reached the Portrait Hole and climbed through it.

“Hey Lily, we need to -” a voice said. Lily turned her head to see James standing a few feet away. He gave her a puzzled look as she threw him a Class A glare.

“Later,” she ground out, and she carried on up the girls’ stairs. Sapphire, following her, could only shrug apologetically as she hurried after her.

The door flew open, and Emma looked up in surprise to see Lily standing in the middle of the dormitory, Sapphire closing the door quietly behind her.

“How’d it go?” she asked.

“How’d it go? _How’d it go?_ I’ll tell you how it went, Emma Vance. _How could you do this to me_?!?”

**- &-&-&-&-&-**

**A/N:** Do a good deed for humankind (or rather, for my ego) and leave a review. You know you want to… 


	13. Hangover

** The Truth Of The Heart **

**Summary:** Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily’s opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don’t sue me, JKR, ‘cause I have nothing you want….unless you’re into human flesh (you’re not, are you?) Kudos to JKR, since I copied some bits out of CoS for authenticity in this chapter.

 

**Previously on TTOTH…**

 

_The door flew open, and Emma looked up in surprise to see Lily standing in the middle of the dormitory, Sapphire closing the door quietly behind her._

_‘How’d it go?’ she asked._

_‘How’d it go? How’d it go? I’ll tell you how it went, Emma Vance. How could you do this to me?!?’_

**- &-&-&-**

** Chapter 13: Hangover **

“What?” Emma asked, clearly confused.

“Emma, I know I had my doubts, and even Saffy told me she wasn’t happy about it, but _how_ could you talk me into taking this stupid potion in the first place?”

Emma looked to Sapphire, who could only shrug.

“What went wrong? Did Remus say something?”

Lily laughed, but it was a sound that had no real mirth in it. “Oh yes, Remus _totally_ likes you. He _completely trusts you_ , and he thinks you’re _special_.” She spat the word out. “All you had to do was ask him, and he would have told you himself. Instead, you had to rope us all into this _mess_.”

Emma still looked bemused. “Then what happened? Calm down, Lils, it can’t have been anything _that_ bad, can it?”

“Oh, nothing _happened_ , Emma!” Lily was yelling now. “It’s the principle of the thing! How could you talk me into – strike that, how could you come up with the whole idea of doing this?”

“Lily, why are you so worried? I mean, as long as they don’t find out, it’s alright, isn’t it? I’m happy, you’re happy, they’re happy, it all turned out okay.”

“So the end justifies the means, does it?” Lily exploded. “You’re telling me it’s fine to do the deceitful thing that we just did, because as long as you’re not paranoid, it’s all good, huh?”

“No, but . . .” Emma gave up trying to placate her and tried a different tack. “Well, at least it’s all over now. We can just forget about it.”

She had said the wrong thing.

“I don’t think you understand, Emma! I’ve been feeling sick with myself since I walked out of their dorm! We’ve spent all these years condemning the Marauders for all the pranks they’ve played over the years, when we’ve just done something that’s worse, and more . . . more. . .” Lily struggled for words, “more _immoral_ than anything they’ve ever done, or are probably ever going to do! The guilt from that isn’t just going to _go away_ , Emma! You don’t just _forget_!”

Emma’s eyes flashed. “In case you don’t remember, _Lily_ , I didn’t _force_ you into this! You do have your own free will!”

“I know. And I blame myself for agreeing to go along with this, but I blame you even more for deciding to go about it in this way!”

“But you didn’t _have_ to agree! This isn’t some sort of forced labour camp – you’re allowed to disagree with me! You’re treating this like I _made_ you take the potion!”

“Well maybe I wouldn’t have to if you had told us _before_ you started making it, so that we’d have some input!”

“That was because I knew you would react the way you did and stop me from getting anywhere with it!”

“Oh, so you had already _planned_ for me to say yes? You think I’m such a pushover? Oh yes, Lily isn’t stubborn at _all_ , she’ll do _whatever I ask her to,_ even if it involves _deceiving my boyfriend_!”

“Actually, at the minute, you ARE being stubborn. A stubborn cow.”

As Lily gaped in outrage, Sapphire stepped quickly in between the two of them; Lily had forgotten that she was even there. “Come on, can’t we just sit down and talk this out calmly, before you bring the roof down?” Her words were brushed aside as the two girls glared daggers at each other. Emma was the first to speak.

“I can’t believe my own best friend would turn on me.”

“I can’t believe my own best friend would be so deceitful,” Lily shot back.

“You know, before you start labelling other people’s faults, Lily Evans, you should take a look at your own.”

“Well at least I admit when I’m in the wrong!”

“Do you? I can’t hear you saying anything now! Just a load of mindless rubbish, that’s all that’s coming out of your mouth!”

Lily stared at her in shock. “Then maybe you won’t be listening to _mindless rubbish_ coming out of this _mouth_ any longer!” she yelled. “Why were we _ever_ friends?”

“Well we’re not now, are we?” Emma shouted back. 

Sapphire stared in horror.

“See if I care!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Lily stormed out of the dormitory, slamming it behind her. She could hear Sapphire calling her, behind, but the last thing she wanted to do was to walk back in, and so she continued down to the common room and sat down on a sofa by the window. The clouds drifting steadily by outside calmed her, and she began to feel more clear-headed, though not less angry or upset.

Eventually, she turned around and surveyed the room. The Marauders were lounging in chairs by the fire, discussing something intently. Just then, Remus said something to James, who turned round to see her. For a moment, he was tempted to smile at her, as their eyes locked, but he was arrested by the expression she held. She looked weary . . . as though she had lost her peace of mind. For a few seconds she held his gaze, then let it drop and turned back to the window.

“You know, Prongs,” Sirius smirked. “Eye contact is widely known to be one of the most powerful forms of flirting.”

“Save it, Sirius.” James sighed. “I’ve told you before. We’re just friends, for one thing, and besides, she obviously isn’t in the mood for anything like that.”

Sirius grinned. “Whatever you say, Prongs. Whatever you say.”

**- &-&-&-**

When Sapphire finally came down, she found Lily in the same position as she had been in half an hour ago.

“Hi Saffy,” she said quietly, as Sapphire sat down. 

“Hey. Look, I’ve just talked to Emma, and she’s doing exactly the same thing as you.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “Go figure,” she muttered quietly.

Sapphire frowned. “Please, can’t you just talk to her and sort this out? You _can’t_ just pretend your friendship never existed!”

“Wanna bet?”

“Lily! Just go up and say the first word, and this’ll be over!”

Lily shook her head. “Not going to happen. It’s not my fault.”

Sapphire looked at her for a moment. “Actually Lils, if you want the truth, some of it is. If you felt this strongly about it, you should’ve said so _before_ you took the potion, not after.”

“I KNOW, Saffy, ok? I already admitted that was my fault. It’s Emma’s problem now, not mine.”

“But if you just made the first move, then -”

“No. I won’t. Let her work it out by herself.”

Sapphire sighed in defeat. “Okay,” she said quietly. “I want you both to know that I’m not taking sides – it’s between you two, and you both have to sort it out.”

Lily nodded. “Look, I’m going to . . . uhm, do some homework in the library. See you around.” She got up and walked out of the common room, before realising that her bag was up in the dormitory, but she did not go back. _Oh well_ , she thought, continuing to walk, _maybe its better. I probably wouldn’t have been able to concentrate anyway._ Stopping, she leant against the cool stone wall, just under a flickering torch, and rubbed her eyes furiously.

_Why did it have to come to this?_

**- &-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-**

**A/N:** It's been a LONG while since I've updated here, and I'm sorry about that! What's also interesting is that my writing style has changed a bit while I've been writing this, so the later chapters will be better (I'm up to 36 on fanfiction.net, if you're interested). Looking back at this chapter, I found quite a few “Americanisms” where the language that Lily used didn’t exactly…well, it was more americanised than I wanted it to be. I’ve changed it wherever possible, but a few examples remain, so please excuse them. Feel free to review! 


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